The Snipers in the FBI
by FictionWriter91
Summary: When Christine's school is breached by a gunman, terror enters Booth and Brennan's hearts, but they are not alone. Jack and Sue's son also attends the same high school, and he is deaf. As the events unfold, Booth and Jack realize that the gunman is someone from their past as snipers, and they will work together to do whatever it takes to stop him.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! I had this idea hit me on my long drive home from my vacation. It is a crossover with Sue Thomas FBEye. This will be centered around Jack and Booth both being snipers before the FBI. I know not everyone knows the Sue Thomas show, so I try to make things clear and of course will be doing flashbacks and incorporating how Booth knows Jack. You might remember my story crossover of these two shows with Booth and Bobby that I have renamed The Gamblers in the FBI where I did the same type of thing. I hope you enjoy!**

**Quick facts before we get started: Sue is deaf and can read lips and sign and has a hearing dog, Levi (in this story, it will be a new dog named Sam). She and Jack very obviously had feelings for each other during the show, which was cancelled after only three seasons (!) much to our disappointment. I changed her decision about New York in this story. Jack also was a sniper like Booth before joining the FBI, but since they don't delve into that much in the show, it will be AU from my perspective. The rest of the team from the show is Tara, Bobby, Myles, Dimitrius (a.k.a. D), and Lucy. If you haven't seen the show already, go watch it. You won't be disappointed (aside from the fact it is only three seasons)!**

**I won't keep you with my babbling any longer!**

* * *

**2027**

Sue looked down at her watch and wondered what her son, James, was doing. It was the first day of school, and he was starting grade 10. She worried about him a lot even though he assured her he was fine, that he had one year of high school under his belt and was looking forward to another.

"He's good," Jack said to her, noticing her anxiety. She gave a small smile.

"He texted you?"

"Yea."

"He hasn't answered me."

"That's because he knows you're gonna fire off a million more with questions," Jack laughed. She bowed her head slightly.

"I can't help that I worry about him."

"You don't worry about Jess as much," Jack pointed out.

"That's because she is still in grade seven, and she isn't deaf," Sue pointed out.

Jack had no response to this. He worried about James too at times. Sue had done well to teach James to both sign, lip read, and speak like she could, but she worried about bullies. He had some trouble in public school with some tormentors, but thankfully they went to a different high school now.

"I just can't help but have a bad feeling," Sue said.

"He'll be fine," Jack promised. He rubbed her shoulder and went back to his desk. They had been together for 17 years now. Jack had thought he had lost Sue when she had taken the job in New York, but after a few years apart, she had returned, and he had had his chance to tell her how crazy he was about her. Two years of marriage later and James was born. Jess came three years later. They had lost Levi a few years ago, so Sue's new hearing dog, Sam, was the newest member of their family. James wanted one when he was finished school, and Sue promised to get him one when he graduated.

Sue went back to her case, but her mind was still thinking about James.

...

James did his best to be alert at all times, but sometimes people still got the jump on him.

"Hey," Christine said, tapping his shoulder. He jumped. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right," he said, laughing. "I was lost in thought."

"So, history, huh?" she said, raising a brow. "That was fun."

"I like history."

"Sure."

"It defines us," James went on. Christine rolled her eyes.

"I prefer biology and dissecting stuff," she said.

"Of course you do. Your mom works with dead bodies every day."

"That has nothing to do with it," she sniffed.

"I'm sure it doesn't," he smirked. She smiled. James knew sometimes Christine had a difficult time with her mother. He hadn't met Christine's parents, just like she hadn't met his. No one knew they were dating, and they preferred to keep it that way. He touched her cheek softly, the only form of affection he would do in public. She smiled again.

"See you in English," he said. She threw her head back in mock anguish while he laughed.

...

Booth was looking at the file in front of him and felt tired. He was ready to retire, and even though he and Brennan had tried a few times to quit, they both seemed to migrate back to their jobs. He was just past his mid fifties, though, and he was ready to quit for good. He wanted to try something different for a while. Maybe he'd be a private investigator. Christine was in high school now with Hank not too far behind. Maybe it was time to do a safer, quieter kind of job.

"Are you listening?" Brennan asked, cutting into his thoughts.

"Huh?" he said. She was standing next to the body in front of him. He closed the file in his hands.

"I said cause of death was blunt force trauma."

"Okay."

"That wasn't very enthusiastic," Brennan noted. She cocked her head at him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm just tired, Bones."

"From lack of sleep or tired of this job?" she asked.

"You know me well," he smiled. They had been together for 16 years at that point. He thought she still looked amazing at 51.

"I've been thinking that maybe it's time to quit again too," she confessed. "But it's hard when we are so good at what we do and bring answers to those who have lost someone."

"It's just a thought for now," Booth told her.

"I fear Christine is going to take my place," Brennan said. He chuckled. They both knew how well Christine was in science and biology and how she loved hearing about solved murders they had done in the past.

"Well, who better than to replace the best than with the best's daughter," Booth teased. Brennan gave a grin back.

"Of course."

"So, blunt force trauma?"

"Yes," she nodded. She went back to looking at the body.

...

James was walking to English class when Christine came up behind him and got his attention. She pulled him into the janitor's closet for an undercover kiss.

"Have I told you how good you are at that?" James asked after, out of breath.

"Every single time," she giggled.

"We should get back to class," he said.

"Oh, I guess," she agreed, kissing him again.

_Pop. Pop. Pop._

She froze, gripping James's arms and looking afraid.

"What?" he asked.

"Someone just shot a gun," she whispered. James frowned. That was one of the big disadvantages of being deaf. You couldn't hear danger. This was why he wanted a hearing dog like his mother.

"Where?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "But it was close."

Screams echoed down the hall then, and Christine began to tremble.

"Don't move," James ordered. "And don't make a sound." He looked around for something to hide them in case the gunman opened the closet door. He found a tarp and gestured for her to get under it. He joined her and pulled it around them. She was shivering with fear.

"We'll be all right," James assured her. He didn't feel as brave as he was sure he sounded. He pulled out his phone and texted his father quickly. He hoped help would come fast.

...

Jack jumped up from his desk so fast his chair tipped over backwards.

"What's wrong, mate?" Bobby asked, looking at him.

"James is in trouble," Jack answered.

"What?" Myles said, overhearing. Everyone was looking at Jack now, including Sue.

"What's happened?" she demanded.

"James's school is under attack. We gotta go," Jack said. D, Myles, and Bobby jumped to attention with Tara getting her head set and control center ready. Lucy stayed behind to help her as well, but Sue was adamant to go.

"You shouldn't," Jack said.

"He's my son too, Jack, and I'm going," she said firmly.

"All right," he caved after a moment. "But you stay in the van."

Sue didn't argue in that moment because she knew it would waste time. She would ignore Jack's order later.

...

Booth leaped up the steps and pulled Brennan's ear buds out of her ear. She wore them when she worked sometimes.

"We have to go right now," he said.

"What? Why? I haven't gotten anymore from the body yet," Brennan said, confused. Hodgins looked up from his work, curious at the urgency in Booth's tone.

"It's Christine," Booth said.

"What happened?" Brennan demanded.

"Her school is on lock down. There is a gunman inside."

Brennan whipped off her gloves in lightening speed. Angela poked her head out of her office then.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We have to go save Christine," Brennan answered, running after Booth.

"From what?" Angela called after her.

"There's a gunman! I have to go!" Brennan shouted over her shoulder. Angela looked frightened at this, and she shared a worried glance with Hodgins.

"What do we do?" she asked him.

"We wait until they ask for our help," Hodgins answered. Angela felt relieved that Michael Vincent was home sick that day and terrified for Christine. She couldn't imagine the fear Booth and Brennan must be feeling right now.

...

"Excuse me," Jack said, pushing his way through the crowd. News vans were scattered everywhere as well as police and EMS.

"Coming through. FBI," Bobby said, going behind Jack. They pushed their way to the front where the captain of the police was and the hostage negotiator.

"What's going on in there?" Jack asked. Sue watched the interaction carefully. She tried to see James through the windows of the school, but there was nothing.

"I don't really have answers yet, Agent," the captain said. "He hasn't called with demands yet."

"Hey, Lou, what's going on?" a voice asked. They turned to see a dark haired man approach them with a brown haired woman behind him.

"I don't know yet," Lou answered, annoyed.

"My daughter is in there," he went on.

"Everyone has a kid in there," Lou argued. "I'm doing the best I can here."

"Well, I'm FBI, so I'm taking this over," the man said.

"I'm FBI too," Jack interrupted. "And my son is also in there."

"You're FBI?" the man asked.

"Yea. Jack Hudson. You are?"

"Seeley Booth. Call me Booth."

"All right."

"I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan," the woman said.

"Sue Thomas-Hudson," Sue said.

"Bobby Manning," Bobby added because he felt left out.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Booth asked. Before Lou could answer, the hostage negotiator beckoned them over.

"I have contact," he mouthed, gesturing to the phone. They all crowded in close.

"Okay," the negotiator, Steve, said. "All right. Hang on." He looked around at the faces in front of him.

"Seeley Booth?" he asked.

"Here," Booth said, holding up his hand.

"He wants to talk to you," Steve told him. Booth took the phone gingerly.

"Yea?" he asked.

"Seeley Booth," the voice answered. It was smooth and firm. "I told you we would meet again."

"And you are?"

"Your worst nightmare," the voice answered.

"A name would be better," Booth said.

"Hm, well, I've heard you're good at figuring things out, so...figure it out," the voice said. "I'm also not alone in here, so don't even think about barging in to save the day. Oh, and say hello to Jack Hudson for me too. He should remember me too." Then he hung up. Booth threw he phone back at Steve, growling in anger.

"Who is it? What does he want?" Brennan asked.

"He wouldn't give me a name. He said he's my worst nightmare and that I'm to figure it out. He's not alone in there, and he also said to say hello to Jack Hudson."

"Oh, great," Jack said. He gripped at his hair. Sue was frowning, trying to understand what was happening.

"So he knows you," Brennan encouraged.

"Apparently."

"So we look into all your old cases and find out who he is," Brennan went on.

"I know his voice," Booth said. "I just can't place it." He wracked his brain. Where had he heard that voice from? He looked over at Jack then. He felt he knew him from somewhere too, but he couldn't figure it out. He was definitely familiar, and not just from being around the FBI building. There was more to it than that. Booth looked at Bobby too, who gave a slight nod but nothing else. They were in Gambler's Anonymous together, but they didn't act like they knew each other outside of the meetings for privacy's sake.

"He knows both of us," Jack mused. "That will narrow things down a bit."

"It is no coincidence he picked this school," Booth said. "Both of our kids go here."

"So it's revenge," Sue said. She felt terrified. Where was James? Was he hurt?

Booth was looking down at his phone, frowning.

"What?" Brennan asked.

"Christine said she is in a janitor's closet with a boy named James," Booth answered.

"She's with our son," Jack said, breathing a sigh of relief. Then his next thought was, why were they together in the first place? And in a janitor's closet no less? He caught Sue's eye and knew she was thinking the same thing.

"They were smart and hid in there when the shooting started," Brennan said, proud of her daughter. She was also a bit oblivious to some things. Booth didn't correct her. He shared a look with Jack, though. Had his daughter been dating without telling him? It kind of hurt. And who was this James person? Was he a good guy? And how did he know Jack? It was driving him crazy that he couldn't think. Fear did that to you, though.

"I told them to stay put," Booth said to them. "We gotta figure out who this guy is."

A shot went off followed by a scream. Shattered glass sounded, and a body was thrown out. Everyone shouted and screamed outside. Booth and Brennan raced over to the body followed by Jack and Bobby. Sue trailed behind a bit, feeling unsafe. There was a note pinned to the shirt collar of the teacher.

_The longer it takes me to find your children, the more people die. _

"We gotta move," Jack said, feeling sick.

"Take the body back to the lab," Brennan said. "This is what I do. I find evidence that leads to the killer. We will figure this out."

"It's James's favorite teacher," Sue said softly, gripping her side. Jack put his hand on her shoulder.

Booth was grinding his teeth anxiously. He was afraid for his daughter and for Jack and Sue's son. This guy was an animal, and he didn't want him to find the kids before Booth got them out of there.

"Call the public school," Jack told Bobby. "Tell them to get Jess out of class and that someone will pick her up."

"I'll get her," Bobby promised. He rushed off.

"We should get Hank," Brennan said to Booth. "I can ask Angela to pick him up."

"Call his school and Angela. Let's get moving," he ordered. "No one else is going to die today on my watch."

...

"I'm scared," Christine whispered. She had her light from her phone on under the tarp so James could see her.

"It'll be all right. Our parents are outside," he assured her.

"What if people are dying?"

"Don't think about it."

"I can't help it."

She heard footsteps outside the door then, and she gripped James's hand and gestured. They sat in silence while the door was pulled open. Christine thought she was going to pass out from fright. The tarp was yanked off, and a man sneered down at them.

"I got 'em!" he shouted. James stood and kicked the man in the knee cap, and he yelped. Christine pushed him hard as they shoved past him, and he toppled backwards. James grabbed her hand.

"Run!" he shouted. They skidded through the halls. James was trying to think of an exit. They approached the nurse's station, and he pulled her in there and shoved a chair under the door knob. He spied a grate in the wall and opened it.

"What are you doing?" Christine asked.

"Go," he ordered.

"What?" she asked.

"Get in and go," he said, pointing.

"I'm not leaving you," she said.

"I have to lead them away. Please, just go," he said. She was crying now, scared to leave him and scared he was going to die.

"Come with me," she begged.

"I can't. They'll catch us. This way, one of us gets out of here," he said. Christine knew arguing with him was pointless. He was a bit stubborn.

"Please come back to me," she said. He kissed her quickly.

"I will," he promised. She climbed into the air duct, and he put the grate back over it.

"Hurry," he urged. Christine crawled as quietly as she could, feeling terrified. She heard James go back out into the hallway, and she desperately hoped that he wouldn't get caught.

* * *

**I hope it is intriguing enough. I'm always a little nervous when I post new stories, so let me know what you think and if I should continue :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm glad there is interest in this story! I am trying to update my other Bones stories too. I just hit a funk for a bit, but the juices seem to be flowing in my brain again for now. Happy reading :)**

* * *

Christine heard her breath echo in the duct as she slowly crawled her way through. She honestly had no idea where she was going, but it was safer than being down on the ground. She didn't know where James had went. She was terrified he would get caught. He was deaf. He couldn't hear someone sneaking up behind him.

"There he is! Get him!" voices below her shouted. She froze. She must be above a hallway. She swallowed hard. Had they seen James? Is that who they were chasing? She worked to regulate her breathing. She thought about her parents. They were outside obviously. Was her father working to find out who these people were and why they were there? She thought hard about any past events where things or people had been out of the ordinary. She couldn't think of anything. She forced herself to keep going. James wanted her to be safe, so she would honor his request. She wished she hadn't lost her phone, though. She would have wrote her father and told him what was going on.

...

Jack watched the school carefully, his arms crossed and his legs slightly apart in a solid stance. Bobby was beside him. The Australian was just as worried as Jack about James.

"He's a smart kid," Bobby assured him.

"He's deaf, Bobby," Jack sighed. "He has a great disadvantage."

"Sue is deaf, and she's gotten out of lots of dangerous situations," Bobby pointed out.

"She had Levi," Jack argued. "James has nothing to alert him about anything."

He looked at his phone again, and what was really scaring him was the fact that James was no longer answering his messages. That meant something was wrong. He just knew it. He looked over at Booth, who was also on his phone, frowning. He went over to him.

"Anything?" he asked. Booth shook his head.

"She's stopped answering."

"James too."

"Shit," Booth said, rubbing at his head viciously.

"We can't just go in there. We don't know how many hostiles are in there."

"I know. I just...I hate feeling this helpless," Booth replied.

"I understand."

Jack looked over at Sue, who was standing beside Myles and Dimitrius and looking at the school. D was showing Myles something on his phone.

"Bones will figure it out," Booth said.

"Bones?"

"Oh, sorry. Brennan. My wife," Booth corrected. "I call her Bones."

"Ah."

Jack wasn't really sure how one would get the nickname of "Bones," but he figured it was probably something to do with her job.

"Do you remember any particular person from the past who might have a beef with us now?" Booth asked. "Cos I can't pull anyone up in my mind right now. His voice was very familiar to me, though."

"I can't think. I mean, were we even on a mission together?" Jack asked. Booth studied Jack carefully at this point. Something about him was familiar.

"My last mission was in 2000," Jack stated.

"So was mine."

"I was to take down terrorist Ramon Jan. He was hard to find, rarely surfaced, until he was spotted in Serbia."

"I was on that mission," Booth said, staring at Jack. "I was sniper two, they said. In case the first team failed. I saw you take the shot." He remembered the chaos afterward. His team had to fight their way out of there. He had a feeling there was something that had happened, but it was a blur to him. He thought hard. What had happened?

"Then it has to be related to him," Jack replied. He was also thinking about what had happened after. He remembered Ramon's wife screaming. He blinked, bringing himself back to the present.

"I'll reach out to my former team leader, get some details on that mission," Booth said, searching his phone for the contact. Jack joined Sue by the others.

"We think we know what case it's related to," Jack told her. "My last sniper mission in 2000."

Bobby overheard this and moved in closer.

"Have you checked out any of your former teammates from that mission? Are they alive? Did something happen to their kids?" he asked.

"Check it out for me," Jack ordered, the hairs on his arm standing up. He hadn't thought about the others. He pulled out his phone and called Lucy.

"Jack? What's going on?" she asked, answering.

"Luce, I need you to go pick up Jess from school. Right now."

"Is everything okay? Where's James?"

"He's still inside. Just go get Jess."

"Okay. I'm going right now."

"Let me know when you've got her."

"I will."

"You think they will go after Jess too?" Sue asked, fearful, after he had hung up.

"I'm just being cautious," he answered, exhaling hard. His son was possibly going to pay the price for him following orders all those years ago, but he sure as hell wasn't going to let Jess be put in danger too.

...

"Hodgins, please hurry," Brennan ordered. They had the deceased teacher from the school on the table. Cam was going over it as well as Hodgins. Angela was standing to the rear and looking sick.

"There aren't really any particulates on this body," Hodgins said. He pulled off some hairs and such, but it wasn't really promising unless the shooter had hugged the guy first.

"There will be something," Brennan said firmly. There had to be. She knew cause of death was obviously a gunshot to the head. Cam worked to retrieve the bullet.

"What if Michael had gone to school today?" Angela whispered. Brennan turned to face her.

"But he didn't, so don't torture yourself."

"Have you heard from Christine?"

"Not since we first got there."

"Oh my God."

"I know she is safe," Brennan said firmly. Her daughter was smart. She'd be fine. Brennan had to believe this in order to keep going. Angela hugged herself tightly, hoping Brennan was right.

"Mom?!" Hank shouted, coming into view. Caroline hobbled in after him. Booth had called her to pick up Hank from school.

"Hi, honey," Brennan said. "Stay down there. I'm working."

"Where's Christine? She sent me a weird text telling me she loved me. She NEVER does that. What's going on?" Hank asked.

"Sweetie," Angela said, going down and putting her hands on his shoulders. "There's something going on at your sister's school, but we're confident that we will fix it real soon."

"Is she in danger?" Hank asked, worried.

"No," Brennan answered. They all looked at her, wondering if it was smart for her to lie to Hank. Brennan felt bad, but she didn't want Hank freaking out right now. She needed to focus, and him being upset would hinder that.

"Come on," Caroline said, tapping his shoulder. "Let's go get us something from the vending machine."

Hank followed reluctantly, and Brennan went back to work. At least she could feel relieved that Hank was okay.

...

Lucy was feeling panicked when she got to Jess's school only to find that she had not shown up for her class after lunch.

"What do you mean, she's not here?" she demanded. The principal sighed.

"It seems that she has taken to skipping classes."

"She is 12 going on 13, don't you people keep better tabs on your students?!" Lucy asked, outraged. She felt like she was going to have a heart attack. Had Jess been kidnapped?

"It's her first time skipping. I was going to notify the parents tonight," the principal said defensively. "And who are you anyway?"

"Her aunt," Lucy answered. Not biologically, but Jess and James still called her Aunt Lucy anyway.

"I'll talk to her teacher from this morning and see what Jess was like there," the principal promised. Lucy turned to call Bobby. She didn't want to freak Jack out just yet.

"Luce, what's up?" Bobby asked.

"Get over here now," she hissed. "Jess skipped class and is gone."

"What?!"

"Don't tell Jack yet. It might just be her being defiant."

"I'm coming."

Jess's teacher came into the office then after being paged, and she looked at both of them.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Jess Hudson. What was her behavior like today?" the principal asked.

"Oh. Um...it was solemn almost? She kept to herself. She answered when called upon, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary. Why?"

"Have you ever seen her being bullied or anything?"

"No. She gets along well with others."

"But today she was quiet?"

"She's always quiet."

"Who are her friends?" Lucy asked. "Maybe they know where she went."

"She...she's not here?" the teacher asked, startled.

"It appears she has left, yes," the principal nodded. Bobby arrived then, having been only ten minutes away. The teacher looked at both of them standing there.

"What is going on? Who are you?"

"We are the FBI. Jess's brother is currently in lock down at his high school due to a gunman being inside. It was made apparent that James is the target, and we feel Jess might be a target too," Bobby answered.

"Oh my God," the principal gasped. He remembered James. He had been a good, smart lad. "I'll round up her friends. Anything we can do to help, we will."

Bobby nodded while the principal contacted the teachers who had Jess's friends in their classes. Lucy and Bobby were ushered to the conference room by the principal's admin assistant while they waited.

"I can't believe this is happening," Lucy said, shaking.

"It might be nothing," Bobby responded. "Might be totally unrelated. She could be sitting in a cafe down the street from here just skipping classes."

"Have you...?"

"I've already called Myles to come look in the nearby places," Bobby finished for her. "Jack will figure it out very soon, though, if you don't call him in the next fifteen minutes to tell him you have Jess."

"I know," Lucy nodded. "I just hope we get an answer before I have to call him. I don't want to scare him unnecessarily."

"Let's hope these friends know where Jess is," Bobby said as the door opened and the kids were herded inside.

...

James knew his school better than the bad guys did. They had almost caught him once, but he wasn't on the track team for nothing. He was faster than they were. He hoped Christine got out. He hoped his parents had figured out what was going on by now. He wanted to go home. He had left his phone in the janitor's closet unfortunately, so he couldn't tell his father he was okay. He could only imagine how his mother was feeling. He cursed himself for not telling his father sooner about the weird message Jess had sent him earlier that day. He was worried about her too. Was someone after her like they were after him? Was her school in danger? It had become apparent to him that these bad guys were specifically after him the way they had said "I got 'em!" earlier. Why they wanted him and Christine, he didn't know aside from the fact that both of their fathers and his mother were FBI and her mother worked for the Jeffersonian. He stayed low and out of sight. He prayed that he could just keep safe until this whole thing was solved.

...

"Bones found out what kind of gun it is," Booth said to Jack. "High powered rifle. Military style."

"I've got my team checking into the other team members from that mission to see if there are any other incidents like this one," Jack countered.

"Good idea. I'll do mine too."

"Jack?" D said, approaching.

"Yea?"

"We got a hit on two of your former teammates. One lost his son in a fire at his school. The other lost their daughter in a hit and run."

"That's not a coincidence," Booth said, feeling angry inside.

"The others?"

"They don't have kids."

"So he's going after the kids. Why?"

"Perhaps Ramon's parents are still alive and want us to know what it's like to lose a child?" Jack mused.

"They'd be almost ancient if they were still alive," Booth pointed out.

"Did those team members just have the one child?" Jack asked D.

"Now that you mention it," D said, scanning. "No. They had two kids each."

"Only one child was killed," Jack said, thinking. "And the others without kids, do they have siblings?"

"Um, hang on," D said, looking. "Oh damn. Yea. The other three all had a sibling die from some type of accident...all within the same year."

"I don't have a sibling anymore," Booth said, realizing.

"I was an only child," Jack added. They looked at each other.

"So he's targeting the team members without siblings by taking out one of our kids so that their sibling will feel the pain as well as us parents."

"Our target is obviously a sibling to Ramon," Booth finished.

"D..."

"I'm on it," D cut Jack off. "Got it. Ranjit Jan. No records on him in our system, though. He's clean."

"Until now," Booth said. He clenched his fists tightly. Ranjit. It was time to take him down.


	3. Chapter 3

**I was looking at all of my stories I'm working on, and out of nowhere a chapter for this one sprang into my mind, so I wrote it out. I'm sorry I haven't been writing much. Things have just been really stressful with home life, and most days it is a battle just to get up in the morning let alone do anything I actually enjoy. I've felt so bad leaving you guys all hanging for so long with the majority of my stories. I hope you can forgive me.**

**I'm just going to say now that this story is potentially triggering for folks, so keep that in mind as you read on.**

* * *

**2000**

"What is your position?"

"Target in sight," Jack answered, his hand steady and his gaze level through his scope.

"Don't miss."

"I never do."

Jack breathed calmly. He could feel his team members beside him, anticipating this last kill. They were going home after this, for good this time.

The air was quiet around them, the temperature mild enough. Jack waited for the right moment to take his shot. He tried not to think about Ramon. He tried not to think about Ramon's family. Ramon had done some very dangerous things, things the government deemed as acts of terrorism, and Jack was at war with terrorists.

"You're coming home right?" his mother had asked him the day before. "You've finished your tours?"

"Yes, I'm coming home," he had answered.

"Promise me that you'll stay home," she had urged. Jack knew where this was coming from. As the only child in his family, he knew his parents were terrified every day he was over here that he'd never come home.

"I promise."

Jack knew he'd keep his promise. He had done enough time over here to know that he wanted to be home. He had a friend in the FBI who promised him a job. The idea of catching bad guys on his own turf was greatly appealing. That, and he wouldn't be getting shot at quite as often.

"Come on, Hudson," the guy beside him whispered. "Take the shot."

Jack ignored him, but he was watching Ramon passing back and forth between the two windows. Why was he pacing? What was he thinking? What was going on? He looked stressed.

"Come on," he murmured. "Stop pacing."

Then, Ramon stopped pacing. Jack inhaled and held it, pulling his finger on the trigger. The shot went off, glass shattered, and Ramon catapulted backwards, arms up in the air as he fell. Jack sat back from his scope, knowing he'd succeeded. Then, the screaming started.

"RAAAAAAAMOOOOOOOON!"

"What the?" his colleague said, frowning. The hair on Jack's arms went up as that woman's scream sliced into him followed by other screams and wailing. It was the sound of anguish.

"Move out," the voice over the radio ordered. Jack stood to go, but as they hurried away, they were accosted by someone.

"You did this!" the man shouted, pointing. Jack peered at the figure before them. He realized the man was maybe only seventeen, just a teenager. Jack noticed the back up team come into view then, and all hell broke loose.

"Ambush!" Jack shouted into his radio. Bullets whizzed over his head. He ducked, grabbing his team member beside him and pulling him down as well. Together, they ran for cover.

"Nice shot, Booth!" someone shouted.

"That's 'Sarge' to you," the Booth person called back.

"Yea, yea."

Jack put his focus on getting out of there alive. He was wondering how Ramon had all of these men in place already. Had he known he was going to die? Jack and his team cut a path, and they evacuated quickly. After the last person ran past him, Jack saw the teenage boy standing and staring at him, his finger pointing at him.

"I will never forget this!" the boy shouted.

"Come on," a voice said. Jack looked to see the man called Booth standing there. "We gotta go."

"We will meet again!" the boy shouted at Booth. Jack felt a pit in his stomach then as he and Booth ran after their teams, and he just knew that someday, this was going to come back and haunt him.

**Present **

Jack opened his eyes and exhaled hard. His memory had not failed him in this moment, but how he had forgotten about that boy's threat until now was a mystery. He must have repressed it. Then again, he'd had a lot of cases and a lot of bad guys since then. He had been on guard for the first few years after that mission, and when nothing happened, he got slack and sloppy. He clenched his fists tightly. That sloppiness was potentially going to cause his son harm.

"Jack?" Sue asked, coming up to him and putting her hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

"I'm just remembering," he answered.

Sue didn't say anything. Jack hadn't shared much about his sniper past with her, but she knew he carried some haunts with him. She looked as Booth came to join them.

"Ranjit was that boy," Booth said. Jack nodded.

"I know."

"The more I think about it, the more I'm realizing there was something bigger happening with Ramon than we knew," Booth went on.

"I think you're right." Jack remembered Ramon's face as he had paced that night. It had been indicative of something. He looked at his phone again. Still nothing from James. Nothing from Lucy either. He frowned. Shouldn't Lucy have picked up Jess by now?

...

Lucy felt frustrated by the three girls sitting in front of her and Bobby. Neither of them knew where Jess was. How could they claim to be her friends if they didn't know where she was? Lucy always knew where her friends had been in school.

"All right," Bobby sighed. "You're free to go." The three girls got up and hurried out. He sighed and looked at Lucy.

"That was a waste of fifteen minutes," Lucy huffed.

"If they don't know, they don't know," Bobby said.

Lucy's phone rang then, and she saw it was Jack.

"What do I tell him?" she asked. She felt sick. She knew he couldn't handle both of his children in trouble. Bobby saved her the trouble by taking the phone from her hand and answering it.

"Hey, mate."

Lucy could hear the confusion in Jack's voice at Bobby's greeting. As Bobby explained what was going on, Lucy could hear Jack's voice become anxious and borderline panicked.

"We're on it, Jack," Bobby promised. "I'll call when I find her."

He handed Lucy her phone back and stood up.

"Call Myles," he instructed. "Get an update."

Lucy obeyed as she followed Bobby out to his car.

...

Myles scanned the coffee shop as his phone rang.

"Lucy, I'm doing the best I can," he said as he answered, knowing she was calling to urge him to look harder and faster.

"Have you found anything?"

"Not yet. I will call when I have something."

Myles hung up the phone then and went up to the cashier behind the counter. He held up Jess's photo.

"Has this girl come in today?" he asked.

"Uh, yea. Like, an hour ago," the cashier answered.

"And?" Myles prompted.

"And what? I don't remember what she ordered."

"Which way did she go when she left?"

"I dunno."

Myles sighed impatiently and leaned closer to the cashier, showing his FBI badge.

"You sure about that?"

The woman's eyes grew wide, and she shifted on her feet.

"I don't remember which way she went, but I do remember that a man followed her."

"And you didn't think to report that?" Myles asked, incredulous.

"I can't report every little thing I see," the woman snorted.

"All right, I'm done with this," Myles said. "I don't speak ridiculous." He went to the door when a man sweeping the floor stopped him.

"The girl, what does she look like?" he asked. Myles showed him the photo, and he nodded.

"She turned right," he told Myles. "And yes, there was a man who left after her."

"Describe him to me," Myles demanded.

"Average height, maybe 5'5"? Blond hair. Black coat. Shoes had a white stripe on them."

"All right. Thank you. You see anything else, you call me," Myles said, giving the man his card. Then he hurried out the door, calling Lucy.

"Luce? Yea, I've got something."

...

"Brennan!" Angela shouted from her office. Cam, Hodgins, and Brennan all hurried towards her shouts.

"What is it?" Brennan demanded. Angela was holding a cell phone in her hand and staring at it in disbelief.

"Angie?" Hodgins prompted. "Tell us."

"I should have checked this much sooner. I...I was in shock I guess...I wasn't thinking," Angela was saying now.

"Ange, just tell us," Brennan ordered.

"That teacher took photos of the gunman," Angela whispered, handing over the phone. Brennan took it, feeling a bit shocked.

"The killer didn't take his phone off of him before killing him," Cam said in wonder. "That was very, very sloppy."

Brennan examined the gunman in the photo, who was wearing a bandana and a ball cap. This was the man who was threatening Christine and James. This was the brother of Ramon Jan. The teacher had covertly taken these photos, so the gunman wasn't looking directly at the camera. Brennan silently commended this fallen victim for his bravery and quick thinking.

"Send this to Booth," Brennan told Angela, handing her back the phone. "Now." She turned and went back to her body, looking for anymore clues that would help solve this case.

...

Jack was pacing. He'd had enough. First James, now Jess. Bobby's reassurance that he'd find Jess wasn't enough. Jack needed to do something. Now.

"Tara?" he said into his phone as he turned away from the crowd. "Are you able to get me eyes in that school at all?"

"I'm trying," Tara answered. "I'm having trouble hacking into it."

That made Jack feel a bit better that the school's security system wasn't an easy hack, but it didn't change the fact that a gunman walked in in broad daylight with a bunch of armed buddies following behind him.

"I'm in," Tara said suddenly. Jack tensed.

"What do you see?"

"Nothing," Tara answered. "Hallway security cameras have been covered. I'm blind."

"Thanks for trying," Jack said. He was angry inside. He was on the verge of just charging in there bullets blazing and finding his son. A noise to his left at the side of the school caught his attention, though, and he went to investigate.

...

James wondered how much time had passed as he hid. What was happening? He didn't dare move until his father found him. He kept his hands on the walls and the floor, though, checking for vibrations or any sign that someone was coming towards him. It was a bit difficult with concrete floors to do this, but not impossible. He thought again about Christine. Had she escaped? Then he thought about Jess and her message again that morning.

**That guy is hanging around again. It's really weird. Meet me at our spot after school? Bring that lipstick you were gonna show me!**

James knew it was not meant for him, that it was meant for one of her friends. When he had responded, she hadn't answered him. If she hadn't answered him by lunchtime, he was going to tell his parents because something about "that guy" felt off to him. He really wished he had just told them right after. He'd never forgive himself is something happened to Jess because of it.

"Come on, Dad," he whispered to himself. "Hurry up and find me."

The door whipped open then, and he gasped.

"Gotcha," the man before him grinned cruelly.

...

Jack stopped outside of the grate and bent to look. He almost jumped back from surprise at the girl staring back at him through the slats. She looked terrified.

"It's all right," he said. "I'm FBI."

"Show me your badge," she ordered. He resisted chuckling as he obliged. She squinted at it.

"Satisfied?" he asked.

"Very. Get me out of here," she ordered. Jack pulled out his fancy knife James had given him for a birthday one year, and he set to work on the screws of the vent grate. Once they were off, he pulled the grate out of the way. The girl climbed out. Jack noticed her legs and hands were shaking, but she tried to appear unfazed.

"Who are you and how did you escape?" Jack asked.

"I'm Christine Booth," she answered. "And a boy named James Hudson helped me get into the vent to escape."

Jack's heart pounded.

"You're Christine?" he asked. "Do you know if James is okay? He's my son."

"Oh..." Christine said, looking at him. She could see the resemblance now. "I...I don't know. He ran off after helping me into the vent. We both left our phones in the janitor's closet after they found us."

"Okay," Jack said. "Come on. Your father is worried sick." He put an arm on Christine's shoulders and carefully escorted her to where Booth was standing. He hoped the gunman hadn't seen anything.

"Hey, Booth," Jack called, making Booth turn. His face showed extreme relief instantly.

"Christine!" he cried. She ran into his arms, and they embraced tightly.

"Where's Mom?" she asked.

"At the lab."

"Dad, is Hank okay?"

"Yes, he's okay. He's with Mom."

"What's happening?" she asked, crying now.

"We're trying to figure it out," Booth promised. "I'm calling your Mom. You're gonna go stay with her and Hank at the lab, all right?"

"Okay."

Jack left the two of them then, feeling slightly jealous of the reunion. He wished his son had escaped as well instead of sacrificing himself, but then again, Jack would have done the same thing if the person he was sacrificing himself for was Sue. His phone was ringing, and he saw it was Bobby.

"Talk to me, Bobby. Tell me something good," Jack answered.

"We got her, Jack," Bobby said. "We found Jess. She's okay."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thank you all for your care and support. It means so much to me. Thank you too for reviewing this story.**

* * *

"Skipping?" Bobby asked Jess, giving her a stern look after hanging up with Jack. She looked back at him sheepishly. He'd found her in an ice cream place not far from the coffee shop. As soon as Myles told him one was there, Bobby instantly knew that was where Jess would be. His goddaughter loved ice cream after all.

"I'm sorry."

"Well, I'm sure your parents will deal with this later. Right now, we have to get you somewhere safe."

"Why? What's going on?" Jess asked, suddenly afraid.

"Your brother's school is on lock down," Bobby answered. He always told the truth about what was going on. He didn't like keeping people in the dark about things if they didn't have to be. However, he did have limitations on what he told them, depending on the person.

"What?! Why?! What happened?" she demanded. They walked to Bobby's SUV. Bobby did not fail to notice the man sitting by the door on their way out. He gave the man a stare down as he passed, and the man bowed his head quickly. Bobby would get Jess to safety, and then he'd come back and deal with this guy. He wouldn't do anything in front of her.

"We're still figuring it out," he replied. He opened the door for Jess, and he watched as the man hurried to his silver Honda. Bobby took a picture of it with his phone. Then he closed her door and went around to get into the driver's side. They started driving.

"Is James okay?"

"We don't know," Bobby answered, looking at her. Jess bit her lip. Her last words to her brother that morning had been "move it or lose it, tool." She was annoyed with him because he had been allowed to watch a show with their parents that was deemed too mature for her still. Jess felt more mature than anyone in her school. She had wanted to watch it with them as a family. She had felt very left out.

"You're gonna save him, right Uncle Bobby?" she asked. Bobby swallowed. Her earnestness cut him to the core.

"I will," he promised. He knew it was wrong to promise something like that, but he didn't want to tell her there was a chance James might not make it. He was honest, but he wasn't stupid. There was no need to freak Jess out right now.

"I wanna see Mom and Dad," Jess said.

"We'll swing by there, and then you're going to sit with Aunt Tara," Bobby said.

"Okay," Jess agreed. The team were her and James's honorary aunts and uncles, but they were like family to them. She looked out the window as they drove to her parents.

...

James acted fast. What the man before him didn't realize was that James had been trained by his father, Bobby, Myles, and Dimitrius in the art of fighting. He launched himself at the man, sending a blow to the man's face and a kick to the pressure point in the man's leg, knocking him over. James then grabbed the man's gun from his holster and bolted out of the room. He held the gun in front of him as he made his way through the school to find a new hiding place. He was not going to be an easy target for these people, not with his parents' blood coursing through his veins.

...

"Christine!" Brennan cried, rushing to her daughter. They hugged while Booth observed. He was talking to Jack.

"I have a plan," Booth was saying.

"What's that?" Jack asked.

"Christine came out that vent, right?"

"Yea..."

"Then we should be able to go into the school that way."

Jack mused over this for a moment. It seemed like it could work. He looked at the school. Did Ranjit have eyes on them, though?

"Hey, Booth," Steve called. "Phone." Both Jack and Booth looked at each other. This could be very bad.

"Booth," he said after taking the phone from Steve.

"So your daughter escaped, did she? I shouldn't have underestimated her."

"No, you shouldn't have," Booth agreed.

"Well, that's all right. Do you know where your son is, Agent Booth?"

Booth's blood ran cold. He looked at Brennan, who was still talking to Christine. Hank was at the Jeffersonian, wasn't he?

"Threaten all you want, but this isn't gonna end the way you think it is," Booth said.

"Oh, we'll see about that."

The phone went dead then, and Booth lowered his slowly.

"What?" Jack asked. Booth ignored him and went over to Brennan.

"What is it?" she asked, seeing him looking anxious.

"Where's Hank?"

"He's with Caroline at the Jeffersonian. Why?" Brennan questioned.

"Ranjit is asking me if I know where Hank is. Call Caroline. Now."

Brennan fumbled with her phone briefly as she called Caroline. It rang...and rang. And rang.

"She's not answering," Brennan said, feeling scared now.

"Shit. Come on!" Booth shouted, racing to his SUV.

"Mom?!" Christine asked, terrified.

"Stay here with Jack," Brennan ordered.

Christine covered her mouth, crying. She couldn't bear to think of anything happening to her little brother. She just couldn't.

...

Jess got out of Bobby's SUV to see her father hugging a girl and trying to console her. She hung back.

"Why is Dad hugging James's girlfriend?" Jess asked.

"James has a girlfriend?" Bobby countered, surprised. He vaguely remembered now that Booth had talked about his daughter being in a closet with James. He should have known.

"Yea. He thinks he's being all secretive about it, but I saw them together at the mall," Jess shrugged.

"Huh," Bobby said. Jack caught sight of them then, and he got another agent to stand with Christine while he jogged over.

"Thank God you're all right," he said, hugging Jess tightly.

"Where's James? Why can't you go in there and get him?" Jess asked, muffled by his shirt.

"It's complicated, sweetheart."

"I'm taking her to sit with Tara. I figured you'd want to see her first," Bobby explained.

"Jess!" Sue's voice called. She ran into view and launched herself into the hug with Jack and Jess. Then Jack detached himself to talk to Bobby alone.

"Myles said that two workers at a coffee shop said a man was following Jess today," Bobby told him. "I saw him myself when I picked up Jess. We're looking into it. Tara is doing a facial recognition right now from the footage from the coffee shop."

"Hopefully it helps us with this," Jack said.

"I know James," Bobby said. "He won't go down without a fight, Jack."

"I know," Jack nodded. "And that's what terrifies me."

...

"Hank!" Brennan shouted, rushing into the Jeffersonian.

"Caroline!" Booth called. They were met by Cam, who was breathless and wide eyed.

"What? What is it?" Brennan demanded, grabbing Cam's arms.

"Caroline..." Cam started. "She...she..."

"What happened?" Booth asked, his heart in his throat.

"Mom! Dad!" Hank called, running to them. Booth grabbed his son and pulled him up into his arms, holding him tightly. He didn't care that his son was 12 years old. If he could still pick up his children, then he would.

"Oh, Hank," Brennan said, rubbing his back. "Are you okay?"

They noticed the paramedics then, wheeling Caroline out on a stretcher. Angela was walking with her.

"Caroline!" Brennan called, hurrying over to her.

"Dad, Caroline had a gun in her purse," Hank said almost eagerly. "Some guy came to take me away, and he shot her, but she shot him back."

"Where is he?" Booth asked.

"Upstairs. He's dead," Hank said matter of factly.

Booth held onto his son even tighter then. Nowhere was safe apparently. He set Hank down and went to see Caroline.

"You're a hero," he noted.

"I agree," Angela nodded. Caroline scoffed.

"I did what I had to, cherie," she answered.

"Gun in your purse?" Booth asked, a small smile on his lips.

"Girl's gotta protect herself," Caroline shrugged. Then she winced. She had been shot after all. They had told her it had narrowly missed her heart.

"You're lucky to be alive," Brennan commented.

"He shoulda aimed for the head," Caroline snorted. "If he really wanted me to die, that is."

"You think he wasn't shooting to kill?" Booth asked.

"He hesitated, which gave me time to pull out my gun," Caroline explained.

"I'll go look at the body," Brennan said. "We'll figure out who he is and how he met up with Ranjit."

"Is Christine...?" Angela asked, trailing off.

"She got out," Brennan answered.

"Thank God."

"Auntie Caroline, are you gonna be all right?" Hank asked. He had come over with Cam to see her.

"I'll be just fine, sugar. Don't you worry," Caroline promised.

"Thank you for saving me."

"It was my pleasure. Now be a good boy for your parents," Caroline instructed sternly.

"I will," Hank promised.

"Stay with Angela," Booth instructed. Hank agreed, and Cam, Booth, and Brennan went to look at the body.

"Well, that's how he got in here," Brennan noted, seeing that the man was dressed in a security guard's uniform from the Jeffersonian. Booth bent down to look at the body closer. Brennan followed suit.

"Right between the eyes," Cam noted, seeing the bullet hole that had killed him. "Geez."

"He hesitated," Booth said after a moment. "Why?" He looked at Brennan.

"I don't know, Booth. That's your thing. Mine is bones. You know that," Brennan said. He sighed.

"I know."

Hodgins arrived then, and he started pulling off particulates.

"This shit is getting old," he said. "I mean, coming in here to kidnap Hank? Your guy must be desperate."

"It's because Christine got out of the school," Booth told him.

"She did?! Oh, that's a relief," Hodgins said. "Where is she?"

"With the agents there. I'm gonna assign an agent to sit here with the two of them when I go back," Booth said.

"I'll be here working," Brennan promised. "No one is going to get the chance to get them again."

"I believe it," Booth said, kissing her cheek. "Call me when you find stuff out."

"I will."

...

James found a new hiding place, and he propped himself with the gun out front, waiting. He worked hard to keep his breathing regulated and slow. It was no good to be panicked and anxious. He had to stay calm and focused. The gun felt cold in his hands, but he tried not to think about it. He was a good shot, he knew that. He'd had lots of practice.

"Come on, Dad," he said again for the millionth time. "Come find me."

...

"Jess!" Lucy cried, hugging her. She had gone back to be with Tara as well after Bobby had told her he'd found Jess.

"You good having her here?" Bobby asked Tara off to the side.

"Yea. She's safe here," Tara promised.

"Good. Find out about that creeper?"

"Yea. Isaiah Fletcher. Bobby, he's got a record."

"For?"

Tara lowered her voice, giving Jess a meaningful look.

"Pedophile."

"What?!"

"He was released six months ago. He's on the sex offender's registry. I looked him up."

"You gotta be kidding me. How do these people even get released?" Bobby asked, growling.

"I'm not the system, Bobby," Tara said.

"I know, I know. All right. Notify the police that he's stalking Jess. I can imagine he's probably got more victims he's stalking too."

"On it."

"Thanks, Uncle Bobby," Jess said as he turned to her. "Be safe."

"I will, kiddo," Bobby replied, giving her a sideways hug. He felt sick inside that she was being hunted like that. He'd almost rather it had been one of Ranjit's men following her instead. He sighed as he walked out of the building. He'd have to tell Jack, but he would wait until this was over first. He pulled out his phone and called a friend of his in the police department.

"Bobby! What's up?" Joe asked.

"Tara is calling over there about an Isaiah Fletcher," Bobby said. "I want to be there when you pick him up."

"All right. He involved in a case of yours?" Joe asked.

"No. He's stalking Jess."

"Shit, seriously?! Oh man..."

"I know."

"Hang on," Joe said. "Yup, the call came in. We're going to pick him up right now."

"Great. Send me your location. I'll meet you there."

"You got it."

Bobby hung up, tucking his phone back into his shirt pocket. Isaiah had no idea who he was messing with.

...

Jack stared at the vent in the wall, thinking. Maybe it was a stupid idea, but he couldn't stand it any longer. He had to find James. He made his way casually over to the vent, and he looked around before bending down to crawl into it. He had no idea what he was going to find once he got in there, and he was most likely going to make things worse, but he'd cross that bridge when he got there.

"Hang on, James," he said under his breath. "I'm coming."


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't know!" the man was shouting. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!"

"Like hell you don't know," Bobby said angrily. He had Isaiah up against the wall tightly while Joe looked the other way. They were at Isaiah's house.

"I swear! He paid me to follow her!"

"Who? Who paid you?" Bobby demanded.

"Some guy. He said I just had to follow her around for a week. He didn't say why or to do anything else. I swear!" Isaiah shouted. He was genuinely afraid of Bobby at this point. "I'm in counselling, man! I'm on medication to stop the urges. I turned my life around! I found God!"

"Stop dithering," Joe ordered.

Bobby was thinking hard. Who would pay a pedophile to follow a 12 year old girl? He relaxed his grip, realizing. He dropped Isaiah, who was gasping now.

"What?" Joe asked, seeing Bobby's face.

"This was a rabbit hole," he answered.

"A what?"

"We're working a case right now where Jack's son's school is on lock down with a gunman inside. I bet you anything that guy paid this guy to follow Jess just to throw us off his trail. I mean, he's a pedophile, right? We'd get hung up on that and take our focus off of what was really going on."

"Which is?"

"I don't know yet," Bobby answered. He turned to Isaiah. "You really thought that following a girl around was a good idea after everything you've done?"

"It was 50,000 dollars, man, just to follow a kid for a week. Who wouldn't do that?" Isaiah asked.

"Get him out of here," Bobby said to Joe, disgusted. He hurried out the door and called Tara.

"What's up?" she asked, answering.

"Dig into that coffee house footage," Bobby instructed. "See if there is anyone else following Jess."

"What about Isaiah?"

"Some pea brained idiot who thought following a kid around for 50,000 dollars was a good idea when he was on a sex offender's registry," Bobby answered.

"Wow."

"This was to throw us off, but I don't know why," Bobby said. "I'm gonna meet up with Myles and retrace Jess's routine this past week."

"Okay. Good luck."

"Thanks."

He was gonna need it.

...

Sue noticed that Jack was no longer there. Frowning, she walked around looking for him. Her hearing dog, Sam, was at her heels.

"Have you seen Jack?" she asked D, who shook his head.

"No. I thought he was with you," he answered. She felt puzzled. Where had he gone? She saw Booth return then and get out of his SUV. He spotted her and came over.

"Where's Jack?" he asked.

"I was just looking for him," she answered. "I don't know where he is."

Booth looked over to where the vent was in the wall.

"Oh, but I think I do," he said.

"He wouldn't," Sue said, alarmed. Would Jack really risk their son's safety and the lives of the hostages by going in there alone?!

"He did," Booth sighed. He headed over to the vent.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To go after him," Booth answered over his shoulder. Sue was frustrated. She hadn't seen his face to read his lips. She could only assume he was going after Jack, and she couldn't help but feel scared that this was all going to end very badly.

...

Jack tiptoed along the hallways, gun in front of him. So far, he hadn't run into anyone. He couldn't hear anything either. He thought hard about where James would hide. He wanted to find his son before the gunmen did.

"Think," he said to himself. Where would James be? He heard voices and footsteps then, and he ducked out of sight.

"How the hell did he get your gun?" the first voice asked angrily.

"I dunno. He came at me like a freaking ninja," the second answered.

"You've just gotten us all killed, you know that right?"

"Not if we find him first."

Jack followed them carefully. They were searching for James.

"Camera caught him going this way."

"Good job, Sandy, for putting up those cameras for us," the second voice chuckled.

"He's in the art room," the first voice said. "Come on."

Jack hurried after them quietly. They went into the art room and headed for the closed door. Jack grabbed the first guy and threw him into the wall. The second guy cried out and swung at him. Jack ducked and came back with a stiff uppercut, sending the second man flying. The first man leaped at Jack but missed as Jack sidestepped and dodged him. Jack then swiftly knocked him unconscious with a pistol whip and then cornered the second guy, gun aimed at his face.

"Where's Ranjit?" he asked.

"You're a dead man," the guy answered.

Jack had no time for this nonsense. He struck the man hard, knocking him out too. He went and found some duct tape and secured the two men before going to open the closed door. He was met with a gun aimed at his face.

...

"Christine!" Hank said when he saw his sister. "You're okay!"

"Of course," she answered, hugging her brother.

"I was worried."

"You? Worried about me?" she asked, surprised.

"I do have feelings, you know," Hank told her, crossing his arms. "When you texted me that you loved me, I took that to mean you really thought something was going to happen to you. Of course I worried about you."

"Dad's on it now. It'll be solved soon," Christine promised. "Now, what's this about Caroline shooting someone?!"

"Oh, it was awesome!" Hank exclaimed. Christine resisted rolling her eyes. Any other kid would be terrified. Hank was regaling the tale as though he had pulled the trigger himself. They'd been hanging around their parents for too long.

...

James's hands were shaking as he pointed the gun at the person who opened the door. It took him a moment to register what he was seeing.

"James," Jack said, his hand out. "Put down the gun. I've got you."

"Dad," he managed to say, lowering the gun and launching himself into his father's arms. He felt like he was going to cry with relief, but he held it in.

"Do you know who it is?" James asked once they stopped hugging. Jack took the gun off of him then.

"Some guy who has a beef with me over something I did a long time ago," Jack answered.

"What did you do?"

"Son, it's not something I want to talk about right now," Jack said. "Let's get you out of here."

"And the others? You can't leave them in here, Dad."

"I won't, but you're getting out first. When you're out, find your mother. She's outside."

"Okay," James nodded. Together, they started walking quickly back to where the vent was.

"What the hell, man?" Booth asked when they turned the corner and almost plowed right into him. "You went on a rescue mission without me?"

"Sorry," Jack said.

"You must be James," Booth said, looking at him.

"Yes, sir."

"'Sir.' I like you already," Booth grinned. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

The three of them backtracked to their entry point, and once there, Jack boosted James up into the vent. Then he was gone.

"So?" Booth asked after.

"So," Jack echoed.

"Let's save some kids," Booth said. He flashed Jack a grin, and they set off together down the hall, guns aimed and ready.

...

Myles exited his car and went over to join D in the crowd.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What have I missed?"

"Jack and Booth went inside," D answered. "This could get messy. Where's Bobby?"

"He's investigating the guy who was following Jess. Turns out it was a dead end, not related to this at all. I mean, we're pretty sure it is, but it was to be a distraction to what was going on here."

"Figures," D muttered. Sue joined them then.

"I hate that I don't know what is going on in there," she said. D put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"It's Jack," he said. "He'll be just fine."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"It was worth a try," D replied.

They saw a figure running towards them then, and Sue gasped.

"James!" she cried. The three of them ran to him, and James grabbed Sue, crying now. Sam was whining and pawing at them. D patted James's back while Myles stood and watched awkwardly.

**Where's your father?** she signed quickly.

**Inside.**

**Doing what?**

**Saving the others. A guy was with him.**

**Christine's father.**

**That was her dad? That makes sense. Is she okay?**

**She's with her mother and brother somewhere safe.**

**I'm glad. **

"Um, hello?" Myles said, interrupting and waving his hand in Sue's face. "What's going on?"

"Jack is inside with Booth still. They're saving the others," Sue told him.

"Well, this could be bad," D said. He went to alert the others to what was going on. Myles called Bobby to tell him too.

"I'm sorry, Mom," James said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For not telling you about Christine. We just didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you're safe," Sue said.

"Where's Jess?" he asked.

"She's with Tara and Lucy at the office."

"Mom, she sent me a weird text about some guy following her today..."

"Bobby's already dealing with it," Sue interrupted. "It's okay, James. She's safe."

James caught something out of the corner of his eye then, a glint of light coming from across the street. He frowned.

"What is it?" Sue asked. Then she saw the little red dot on her son's chest right above his heart.

...

"Okay," Booth said. "Is it just me, or is there something weird going on here?"

"I don't know," Jack said. They were both searching the school for the lead gunman, Ranjit, but they couldn't find him. They stopped in the hallway outside of a closed classroom door.

"Something's wrong here," Booth said.

"I agree," Jack said. He was realizing something. He turned to go back to the art room. Booth followed.

"What?" he asked.

Jack didn't answer as he bent to slap the one man's face until he came to.

"Whazzgoinon?" the guy asked blearily.

"You're the only two gunman in this building, aren't you?" Jack asked. The guy blinked at him.

"How do you know?"

"Cos I'm smart," Jack answered. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yea," the guy admitted. "It's just the two of us."

"No shit," Booth said. "You terrorized an entire school into thinking there were like ten guys in here."

"Fear is a great tool sometimes," the guy shrugged.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Jack growled. He searched the man then for an I.D. or a phone. He found both.

"Josh Wilkins," he read. "How do you know Ranjit?"

"Who?" Josh asked, puzzled.

Booth looked at Jack and then back at Josh.

"What do you mean, 'who?'" he asked. "Ranjit is behind all of this."

"I wouldn't know."

"Then what are you doing in here looking for our kids?"

"Some guy paid us to," Josh answered.

"What guy?" Jack asked.

"Don't know. It was an email. He sent us a phone to let him know when it was done."

Jack had never been more confused in his life. Why was Ranjit hiring strangers to kidnap James and Christine? Did he not have a team? Was he working alone?

"Your partner?" Booth prompted.

"My brother," Josh admitted.

Jack looked at the phone then, and it started to ring.

"This him?" he asked, showing the number to Josh.

"Yea."

"You must think I'm really stupid," Jack started, answering it.

"No, Jack," the voice said back. "I know you're stupid. Hope you told James you loved him."

"Wha-?" Jack started, but the phone went dead. He looked at Booth, realizing.

"What?" Booth asked.

"He's outside. I sent James right to him. We gotta move!" Jack shouted, running. Booth ran behind him.

...

Myles and D turned at Sue's scream. They saw her shove James at the same time they heard a loud gunshot. They saw her fall with James falling backwards beside her. They saw the blood. They ran towards her, feeling as though their legs were stuck in slow motion.

"NOOOOO!" Jack's scream slashed through the air. He had exited the front door to see his wife take the bullet that was meant for his son.

"Mom? Mom!" James was shouting and crying. "MOM!"

Myles and D skidded to the ground beside Sue.

"GET A MEDIC!" Myles shouted. There was a flurry of movement. Then Jack was there, and he was crying and holding onto Sue for dear life. Her blood was soaking onto him.

James was hysterical. D was holding him back from launching himself onto his mother. Myles was trying to get Jack to release Sue.

"Let the medic in, Jack. Let them in. Let her go," he said. He pried Jack from Sue, and Jack started to hit him to let him go, but Myles held on.

"She's got a pulse!" the medic shouted.

"You hear that, Jack? She's got a pulse," Myles said. "Breathe, buddy. Breathe. She's not dead."

"This is my fault," Jack said over and over. "This is my fault."

"Jack, she's still with us. Just hang on, all right?"

The medics loaded Sue onto the stretcher as fast as they could. Jack followed them like a zombie from a bad dream to the ambulance. Then he remembered James.

"James..." he started.

"We got him. We'll take him to Jess. Just go," Myles said.

"Ranjit..."

"Booth already went to find where the shot came from," D answered, having been updated. "A witness saw a car fleeing the scene. They've deemed the area secure now. The school is being let out. We're done here, Jack. Go."

Jack stumbled into the back of the ambulance and sat down. He grabbed Sue's hand. He could feel her pulse in her wrist, but it was weak. He was terrified. He couldn't live without Sue. He just couldn't.

"Please don't go," he cried. "Please don't go, Sue. I need you. Don't leave me."

If he lost Sue, and it was because of Ranjit, then Jack already knew that he'd never rest until he got his revenge.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love hearing your feedback :)**

**I know most of you aren't familiar with the cast of Sue Thomas, so I don't expect you to be invested in them like you are with everyone from Bones. If you haven't already watched that show, I highly recommend it.**

* * *

"This man is a nobody," Brennan said as they stared at Angela's computer. They had worked hard and found the identity of the shooter and wannabe kidnapper of Hank. Brennan felt disappointment that the results were not what she expected. She had wanted this man to be Ranjit's right hand man, that they would find Ranjit through his remains.

"He does have a record, though," Angela pointed out. "Breaking and entering."

Brennan's phone rang, and she saw it was Booth. She answered quickly.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes and no. We extracted James and then discovered there were only two gunman in the school pretending they were an army of ten. The school is clear now, but James's mother got shot as she threw herself into the way of the bullet meant for James."

"Is she all right?" Brennan asked, shocked.

"I don't know. They left about twenty minutes ago. It looked bad, Bones."

Brennan bit her lip. She knew all too well what Jack would be going through right now.

"Is James okay?"

"Yea. He's with his sister now. Any luck with the guy Caroline shot?"

"He's got a record, but he is a nobody, Booth. I don't understand."

"I do. The two gunman in here are also ex criminals. They were offered money to hold up this school and get James and Christine. Ranjit is using people with a record to do his dirty work for him."

"Well, I'll get Angela to search this guy's computer to find out how they met," Brennan said. "An agent is on their way to his house right now to retrieve it for us."

"All right. We'll figure this out. For now, stay in there," Booth instructed.

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

...

Bobby tore down the halls of the hospital until he found Jack sitting in a chair leaning against the wall and looking broken.

"Jack?!" he said. "What happened?"

Jack looked up at his friend standing in front of him.

"Sue took the bullet meant for James," he answered.

"Aw hell," Bobby said, grabbing at his head anxiously. "Is she all right?"

"I don't know. She's in surgery."

Bobby sat down beside him then. He felt sick.

"Did you find Ranjit?"

"No. He had two guys in the school looking for James and Christine," Jack explained. "They were just ex criminals who got offered cash to do the job. They don't know Ranjit at all."

Bobby froze. He looked at Jack carefully, processing what he'd just heard.

"Funny," he said. "That's what the guy who was following Jess told me as well."

"What?" Jack asked, finally looking at him again.

"The guy following Jess told me he was paid to do it by some guy. Jack, Ranjit is getting ex convicts to do his work for him," Bobby said. "You think he really pulled that trigger today?"

Jack sat up straight, his mind racing. He pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Bobby asked.

"Calling Booth," Jack answered, dialing. "Yea, hey, it's me."

"Is Sue okay?" Booth asked.

"She's in surgery. Listen, Bobby told me the guy following my daughter was paid to do it..."

"Yea, and the guys from the school were too. So was the guy who tried to kidnap Hank. Ranjit is using ex cons to do this stuff."

"I don't think he made the shot today," Jack said.

"What do you mean?"

"He hasn't done anything himself yet," Jack said. "Why start now? All these other guys are taking the fall for his work, so why would he put himself at risk for the actual murder of my son?"

"You have a point," Booth said.

"Did you find anything when you went looking for the shooter?"

"No. There were a lot of possible vantage points. I couldn't pin point where it came from exactly. I need more equipment to help with that."

"How far away from the school did you check for vantage points?"

There was silence.

"Booth?"

"Let me get back to you," he said. He hung up.

"He knows something," Jack said, looking at Bobby.

"He'll tell you when he's confirmed it," Bobby assured him.

"Mr. Hudson?"

They both turned to see the doctor, who was also the surgeon, standing there. Jack felt his heart tighten.

"Yes?" he said.

...

Jess and James sat together huddled in the office. Sue's hearing dog, Sam, was sitting with them and whining frequently. She knew something was wrong. Tara and Lucy were doing their best to keep it together and not doing great at it. Myles was not faring so well either.

"I can't believe this is happening," Lucy kept saying.

"She'll be all right," Tara said. "She has to be. It's Sue."

"I really want to catch the S.O.B. who's doing this to them," Myles growled.

"We will," Tara said firmly. "We will." Then she started to tear up again just thinking about Sue.

"Uncle Myles?" James said, approaching them.

"Yea, buddy?"

"I saw something just before...before Mom got shot," he said.

"What's that?"

"Something flashed across the street. I don't know what it was, but it came from inside a car."

"You remember what the car was?"

"A black muscle car. Mustang maybe?" James said. "I'm sorry. It all happened so fast."

"It's all right. I'll look into it," Myles promised.

"I'll pull up footage from around the area," Tara said, wiping at her cheeks. Myles and Lucy watched as she did so. They found the black car across from the school like James said.

"I can't see the driver," she said.

"So what flashed?" Myles asked.

"Wait, there," Lucy said. The back window rolled down briefly, and an arm came out.

"His watch," Tara noted. "It must have caught the sun."

"Can you get his face?" Myles asked.

"It's so dark in the car you can't tell anything," Tara answered. "But I'll try."

"No plates of course," Lucy noticed.

"Well, how many nice cars like that are driving around with no plates?" Myles asked.

"I'll follow them via traffic cams," Tara said, clicking at the computer violently.

"Well?" Myles asked impatiently.

"Got them," she said. "They're at a warehouse."

"Give me the address," Myles ordered. She scribbled it down for him.

"What's going on?" D asked, coming in then. He had been talking to his wife, Donna, and letting her know what was happening.

"We got the location of someone who was parked across from the school today," Myles said. "I'm paying them a visit. Wanna join me?"

"You bet."

James hugged his sister as he watched them leave. He knew they'd find the shooter and whoever was behind everything. He just hoped his mother would survive.

...

"Your wife is still in surgery," the surgeon said. "It's taking longer than anticipated. I can't really tell you much else, but I thought I'd let you know that much."

"Is she gonna make it?" Jack asked.

"I can't say for certain about anything just yet."

"Come on, doc," Jack said, getting angry. "You gotta know something."

"I truly don't. I'm sorry. We're still working, and we will do everything we can to save her. I'll notify you when the surgery is over."

Jack clenched his fist and banged it against the wall as the doctor walked away.

"This is Sue we're talking about here," Bobby said. "She's tough as hell. She won't give up without a fight. She'll pull through, Jack."

"I never should have let her come," he said.

"Then you'd be looking at your son in the morgue right now," Bobby argued. "And you know it."

"I shouldn't have gone into that school."

"I would have done the same thing. Jack, you can't know all the outcomes of everything all the time."

Bobby's phone rang, and he answered it. Jack mildly listened to the conversation, but his brain was focused on Sue. She had to pull through. She had to.

"That was Myles," Bobby said. "They are following up on a lead."

"Go," Jack said. "Catch the bastard who did this."

"You know I will," Bobby said, gripping Jack's shoulder before releasing it and hurrying away.

...

Booth had to know. After he hung up with Jack, he made a call.

"Hey, buddy," Jeremy said, answering. He was a friend of Booth's who worked in the prison.

"I need a check in on one of your inmates," Booth said.

"For what?"

"A case I'm on."

"All right. Who?"

"Jacob Broadsky," Booth answered.

"Give me a sec," Jeremy said. Booth could hear the keyboard clicking rapidly. "Oh, uh...ahem, he...he died, Booth."

"What? When?" Booth asked.

"A month ago..."

"How?"

"Stabbing."

Booth's heart was pounding. There was no way...It couldn't be...

"You sure?"

"Yea. He was taken out of here in a body bag."

"Did anybody check that body bag after it left the prison?"

Jeremy was quiet.

"Are you thinking it was faked?" he asked after a moment.

"I really am."

"I'll ask some questions and get back to you."

"You do that."

Booth hung up the phone with shaking hands. It couldn't be. The man was damn near 65 years old and hadn't touched a gun in 16 years. Could he still be that good of a shot? He didn't want to answer that because he was fairly certain he already knew it was a yes. He swung his SUV around and headed back to the school. He had to get the angle right before he could pinpoint a location, and like he'd told Jack, he needed help with that. He dialed his phone.

"Ange?" he said when she answered.

"Yea?"

"I'm gonna need your help in getting a layout of this shooting."

"You got it."

"Thanks."

If Broadsky had pulled that trigger, it would be a miracle if Jack's wife was still alive.

* * *

**Oh yes, I totally just did that. Stay tuned! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I think you guys are gonna love how quickly I managed to update. I had half of this chapter written last night after posting, and I finished it today. That being said, I'm on a roll with this story now, so expect updates every couple of days.**

**Happy reading!**

* * *

"What is it?" Lucy asked, seeing Tara frowning.

"I've finally got more intelligence on Ranjit," she said.

"And?"

"It turns out he joined his country's military and..." she trailed off.

"And what?" Lucy prompted. Tara felt a bit nauseous.

"He's a sniper," Tara answered finally, looking at Lucy.

"So...he became a sniper so he could get his revenge on Jack and Booth?" Lucy asked. "Because he was the sniper who killed his brother and Booth was there too?"

"I...I guess so," Tara replied. She wasn't really sure herself. This whole thing was confusing. She answered her ringing phone then.

"Hello, this is Tara."

"Hey, you don't know me, but my name is Angela Montenegro," Angela said. "Booth asked me to keep you guys in the loop with what we find out."

Tara knew Jack was working with Seeley Booth. She also knew they were snipers together. Jack had kept them up to speed on all of that.

"What did you find out?"

"Well, Booth is fairly certain that the man who pulled the trigger today was a man named Jacob Broadsky."

"Oh?"

"Yea. We just finished locating the shooter's location, and it was a difficult shot to make," Angela explained. "Broadsky is good at these difficult shots. He also fits the bill because the jail is saying he was stabbed and died a month ago, but Booth thinks he faked it."

"Okay. Thanks for the update," Tara said. "We just found out that Ranjit is also a sniper."

"He is?" Angela asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"I'll let Booth know."

They hung up, and Tara looked at Lucy.

"I think this is going to somehow get worse," she said.

"Don't say that," Lucy begged. "It can't get any worse."

Tara didn't respond, but her gut was telling her she was right.

...

"Booth," Booth said, answering his phone.

"Seeley, it's Jeremy."

"What did you find?"

"I talked to the warden himself, and he swears up and down on a stack of Bibles that Broadsky was dead. He personally made sure."

"I hope you're right," Booth said, but he still felt off about it.

"Go check with the crematorium if you want. They burned him up."

"I will," Booth agreed. He hung up and changed directions in his SUV. He had to make sure.

...

Myles and D met Bobby outside the warehouse before going in. They pulled out their guns as they walked.

"How's Sue?" D asked.

"Haven't heard anything yet other than she is still in surgery."

"If this is killing me, I can only imagine what Jack is feeling," Myles commented. Sue had grown to be special to him over the years. Yes, their relationship had a rocky start in the beginning after she had lip read he was cheating on Lucy, but they created their own bond after that. He would be devastated to lose her.

"Hold up," Bobby said, putting out his hand. Something didn't feel right here. They could see into the warehouse, and they could see the car sitting there. It was clearly abandoned.

"What is it?" D asked.

"I don't like this," Bobby answered. His warning meter was going off.

"Are we going in to check it out or not?" Myles asked, impatient. He wanted answers.

Bobby heard it then. If you weren't looking for it, you'd miss it, that high pitched whine of something about to blow.

"RUN!" he shouted. He, Myles, and D bolted back where they came from just as the warehouse exploded.

...

"Did you find something?" Brennan asked when Angela came in.

"I think so. I've been trying to figure out how Ranjit found all his ex convicts to recruit them. So far, I've only seen one place they all have in common."

"What's that?"

"It's a chatroom called _So You've Done the Time, Now What_? Basically, it's a place where ex cons talk about their time in prison and complain about it," Angela said.

Brennan was thinking hard. Booth had told her about Broadsky potentially being behind Sue's attack, and she had felt very worried. Broadsky was dangerous, and she hated to think that Booth would have to face him again.

"Broadsky was still in prison, though," she said after a moment. "He would not have been on that chat room."

"Maybe Ranjit heard about him a different way?" Angela suggested.

"But why break him out of jail?" Brennan asked. "What is the point? Ranjit himself is a sniper, you said, so why hire someone else to do it?"

"So Ranjit's hands are clean from it even though he orchestrated it?" Angela said. "Maybe he's trying to pin it on Broadsky so we won't look at him?"

"I don't know," Brennan said. "I don't understand."

"Me either," Angela admitted.

"Mom?" Hank asked, peeking around into her office.

"Yes?"

"We're hungry."

Brennan looked at the time and noticed that it was well into the dinner hour.

"I'll order some pizza," Angela said.

"Can we get all meat?" Hank asked, excited.

"Sure. Let's go see what Christine wants too," Angela said, leading the way. Brennan was grateful for her friend. She always knew how to help out when Brennan was scattered from a case like this one.

...

Jack was losing his mind. He tapped his feet on the floor. He paced. He sat with his head in his hands. He cried. When would this bloody surgeon come back and tell him that Sue was okay?!

"It has been hours," Jack said to the nurse at the nursing station. "Can someone please tell me what is going on?!"

"When I know, you'll know," the nurse responded. "I'm sorry."

Jack growled in frustration and went back to his chair for almost another hour. He was ready to scream when the surgeon finally appeared.

"Please tell me you have good news," Jack said, jumping to his feet. "Please."

"Your wife is very lucky to be alive," he replied. "The way she turned her body before getting shot is what saved her. That bullet came close to severing her spine, but instead it punctured her lung and got lodged into her rib. We've removed the bullet, and we have put a chest tube in. We expect her to make a full recovery."

Jack almost fell from his legs trying to give out under him, but he managed to stay upright.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," he said.

The surgeon smiled.

"She's resting in room 210. We're keeping her for six to eight days. If all is well, the chest tube will be removed after that, and she can go home to recover."

"Why was the surgery longer than usual?" Jack asked.

"The bleeding took longer to stop than expected. Then the first chest tube failed for some reason. We were also trying to remove this," the surgeon said, holding up the bag with the bullet in it. Jack took it from him. He recognized which rifle it came from immediately.

"Thank you."

The surgeon left, and Jack went to find Sue. She was sleeping, and he didn't want to wake her, so he sat down beside her and took her hand in his. There was another woman in the room with them, and she was watching.

"You look awfully pale, cherie," she commented.

"I almost lost my wife," he answered.

"It's been a terrible day," the woman agreed.

Jack was so relieved that Sue was going to be all right. He fingered the bullet in the bag as he sat, and he decided to phone Booth. First, though, he was going to call his team.

...

Tara looked up when Myles, D, and Bobby returned to the bull pen. They had scratches on their faces and were dirty from falling to the ground.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Dead end. Joker blew up the car and any evidence that was in it," Bobby said angrily.

"It's a good thing we weren't five feet closer," Myles commented.

"I'm getting really sick of this guy," Bobby growled.

"I'm searching for him as we speak," Tara promised. "I started with the camera outside of the warehouse. I picked up a guy with a hoodie running away from it, but I could not get a look at his face at all."

"Where has he gone since?"

"I lost him," Tara admitted. "But I'm confident I will find him again."

"Tell us as soon as you do."

"Guys! It's Jack!" Lucy called. Jess and James looked at her run over to the others, and they followed. James read her lips carefully.

"Hi," she said, breathless. "Is she okay?"

Everyone was silent as they waited. Lucy closed her eyes briefly, making James and Jess both feel a moment of terror, but then Lucy started to cry and smile at the same time.

"Oh, thank God," she said. "I'm so glad. Okay. We'll be in soon."

"Well?" Myles asked impatiently.

"Sue's okay," Lucy told them. "She's okay."

Hugs and tears and relief went around the room instantly.

"I'll take you guys in to see her," Bobby promised. "Then it's right back here."

"Got it," James nodded. He grabbed Jess's hand as they walked with him. He wasn't going to risk losing anymore of his family members.

...

"You're a hundred percent sure?" Booth asked the man at the crematorium as his phone began to ring.

"Yes," the man nodded.

"All right," Booth said reluctantly. Then he answered his phone. "Booth."

"It's Jack."

"Jack! Is Sue okay?"

"She's fine. Lucky to be alive."

"I'm glad," Booth said, remembering when Brennan had been shot and he'd thought he'd lost her.

"Doc gave me the bullet," Jack said.

"Yea?"

"It's from a Barrett Model 98 Bravo sniper rifle," Jack told him. Booth felt the air get sucked out of the room and his ears ring.

"Come again?"

"A Barrett Model 98 Bravo sniper rifle."

Booth swallowed. That was Broadsky's type of rifle that he'd used before.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"This just doesn't make any sense," Booth said. "I'm investigating a former person's death a month ago, someone I put in jail 16 years ago. Jacob Broadsky. All signs are pointing that he shot Sue."

"Tara mentioned Angela called and told her you suspected him. Broadsky, eh? He trained me," Jack said. "You said he's dead?"

"I'm standing here where he was cremated, and they're telling me he's a hundred percent dead," Booth explained. "But the shot, the range, the rifle...it's all pointing to him."

"Tara texted me that Ranjit is a sniper. Maybe he's framing a dead guy? Trying to throw us off?"

"Or there's something fishy going on here," Booth said, glaring at the man in front of him.

"He's d-dead. I s-swear it," the man said, stuttering.

"Uh huh," Booth said. He didn't buy it.

"You don't suppose Broadsky trained Ranjit too, do you?" Jack asked. "How did he end up going to jail anyway?"

"He decided to play God with people's lives," Booth answered.

"Ah. Well, that's too bad."

"It was, yea. And you might be right. There could be a chance Ranjit learned off of Broadsky. That could explain why it's all so similar."

"I gotta go," Jack said suddenly. "Sue's waking up."

"All right. I'll be in touch."

Booth hung up his phone and exited the building. He was going to get to the bottom of this whole Broadsky thing once and for all.

* * *

**Two things:**

**1\. I made up the name of the chatroom, so if it's a real thing, then Google didn't show it to me when I searched, and I didn't mean to copy it.**

**2\. I'm not a doctor, so I used Google to help with the whole getting shot and what that looks like thing. I'm sorry if it isn't a 100 percent accurate. Please don't criticize me about it.**

**Thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I know! I'm as astounded as you are that I'm updating so fast. I told ya I was on a roll ;) **

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews. It warms my heart to see so many enjoying this story. Happy reading!**

* * *

Sue opened her eyes to find Jack holding her hand and looking at her intensely. She blinked. Then she felt the pain.

"What happened?" she asked. She vaguely remembered throwing herself at James. After that, nothing.

"You survived a shot from a sniper," Jack answered. "You're very lucky."

Sue registered this in her brain. She had been shot by a sniper.

"Carl Gordon?" she asked immediately. Jack's face grew dark. He hadn't even thought of that guy. But...did Carl also know Booth?

"I'll look into it," he promised. Carl Gordon had tried to kill him before back in 2003 after he'd gone on a shooting spree and killed innocent people. The guy was doing life in prison.

"Hey, hey," Bobby's voice said, and he came in with Jess and James on his heels.

"Mom!" they both shouted, rushing to her and hugging her. Sue held them tightly.

"My turn," Bobby said after a moment, and Sue laughed as he bent to hug her. "You scared the dickens right out of us, you know."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. She looked at Jack, and she could tell his mind was burning about Carl.

"What's up?" Bobby asked, noticing. He knew his friend, and he knew there was something on his mind.

"Carl Gordon?" Jack replied.

"Aw not him again," Bobby groaned. "You think?"

"It doesn't make sense. He wouldn't know Booth."

"He was a military sniper, though, like you two were."

"I gotta make a call," Jack said. "I'll be right back."

"How you feeling?" Bobby asked Sue, standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Like I've been shot," she answered with a small chuckle. Jess and James both had her hands in theirs. They had left Sam back at the FBI.

"We'll get him," Bobby promised. "We've got some different leads."

"I know you'll get him," Sue nodded.

"Caroline?" Booth called, coming into the room then. He stopped when he saw Sue and everyone. "Oh, hey. I didn't realize you'd all be in the same room."

"Cherie, it's about time you visited me," Caroline scolded.

"Sorry. I've been working," Booth said. He went over to her. "You doing okay?"

"Like she said, I've been shot," Caroline said, looking at Sue. "How do you think I feel?"

"I get it," Booth nodded. "Hey, where's Jack?"

"He's checking out something," Sue answered.

"I'm glad to see you're all right," Booth said to her.

"Thanks," she smiled.

"How's Hank doing?" Caroline asked him then.

"He's peachy. He's eating pizza with his sister," Booth answered. "You'd think he shot the guy from his version of things. You better watch out, or you won't get the credit anymore."

"Just like his Daddy," Caroline sighed.

"I don't take other people's credit..." Booth started, offended.

"No, but you enjoy bragging about a good shot whether it be yours or someone else's," Caroline told him.

"Yea, I guess you're right," Booth grinned.

"It's not him," Jack said, coming back in.

"Not who?" Booth asked.

"Carl Gordon," Jack replied.

"Who?" Booth repeated.

"A sniper who had a vendetta against me in 2003. He's still in prison. The warden just checked and sent me a photo to prove it," Jack said, showing them. "He didn't do it."

"I'm still not convinced Broadsky isn't behind this," Booth said.

"Any luck with that?" Jack asked.

"No. I did some asking around, but I got nothing," Booth sighed. "That's when I decided to swing by here."

"Good to know I'm an afterthought," Caroline commented.

"This is Broadsky we're talking about," Booth interrupted. "Remember him?"

"Oh yes, I do."

"Then understand why you're in second place right now."

"All right, all right. Calm down," Caroline said. There was a twinkle in her eye, though. It was so easy to rile Booth up sometimes.

"Okay. We should get you guys back to the office," Booth said to Jess and James.

"Why can't we stay here?" Jess asked.

"You're safer at the office," Sue said. "I'll be fine."

"A buddy of mine is coming to keep an eye on both of them," Booth promised the kids. "Just to make sure nothing happens."

James and Jess reluctantly stood to leave after giving their mother another hug each.

"I love you," Sue said to them.

"Love you too," they said back. When they were gone, Jack and Booth looked at each other.

"Back to business," Jack sighed.

"You stay here a bit. I'll call if I find anything," Booth promised.

"And vice versa," Jack nodded.

"I keep seeing that red dot on James's chest," Sue said out of the blue, making both of them look at her. "Every time I looked at him just now, I kept seeing it."

"It's normal," Jack assured her. "It will eventually pass."

"Red dot?" Booth asked.

"Yea," Sue nodded. "Over his heart."

"Huh," Booth said, thinking. Jack sat back down beside Sue as Booth left then after saying goodbye to Caroline.

"It'll be all right, Jack," Sue promised. "I have faith."

"I know," Jack said. He just had a bad feeling about this one.

...

Brennan ran to hug Booth when he came into her office. He held her tightly against him.

"Do you really think Broadsky is behind this?" she asked after.

"I...I don't know. All the signs are pointing to him, but something isn't adding up," Booth said. He was thinking about what Sue said.

"What doesn't add up?" Brennan asked.

"Sue said there was a red dot on James's chest."

"Like a laser?"

"Yea. Broadsky doesn't use that," Booth said.

"So...you think it isn't him?" Brennan questioned, trying to follow his line of thinking.

"I think it is someone trying very hard to make it look like him and sending me on a wild goose chase," Booth said. "But they didn't know Broadsky well enough to know he doesn't use a laser. That's their mistake."

"I'd feel better if it wasn't Broadsky," Brennan admitted. She hugged herself tightly.

"Yea, but we know Broadsky. If it's someone new, we don't know them," Booth reasoned. "I don't know which is the lesser evil."

"Dad?" Christine said, coming into Brennan's office then.

"Hey," Booth said. She moved to hug him briefly.

"Is James okay?" she asked.

"He's just fine. He's with his sister at the FBI."

"Can I see him?"

"When this is over," Booth promised.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about him," Christine went on. "I just...I didn't even know if it would work out. I didn't want to get you all excited if it didn't, and I wanted to spare James getting background checked."

"I wouldn't have done that," Booth objected, faking outrage.

"Dad, you background checked Billy from grade 5," Christine pointed out. "After he held my hand, remember?"

Brennan had a smirk on her face that she was trying to hide. Booth stood there trying to form a sentence together that didn't incriminate himself.

"Well," he said after a moment. "Well...you're my daughter, and boys are boys. I'm just doing my fatherly duty."

"I can look after myself, Dad," Christine pointed out.

"Okay, let's just agree to disagree for right now," Brennan interrupted. "Christine, can you go back to Hank? Your father and I are discussing this case."

"Can I help?"

"Sorry, honey," Booth replied. "Not this time."

Christine didn't say anything else as she turned to go. She wished her parents would let her help. She knew she'd be a good asset to their team.

...

Bobby went over to Tara after he returned with James and Jess, who were now talking to Lucy and the others and telling them about Sue.

"Find him yet?"

"No," she answered. "I lost him pretty soon after the warehouse. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. He's good at hiding. For now," Bobby said, patting her shoulder.

"Is Sue doing okay?" she asked.

"She's doing great. She's tough. She'll be home in no time."

"I hope they don't go in to finish the job," Tara said, worried.

"I heard Agent Brown is standing guard," Bobby said.

"He better do his job well," Tara warned. Bobby chuckled.

"He's one of the best," he assured her.

"So what are we doing now?" Myles asked, joining them.

"Well, all the ex cons Ranjit hired are sitting in interrogation rooms," Tara told him.

"I'm on it," Myles said, rushing out.

"He's not going to get any new information," Tara shook her head. "They all said the same thing. They were approached online, given funds, and given a task. They don't know who Ranjit is, and they've never met or verbally talked to the guy who hired them."

"He has to feel like he's doing something," Bobby explained. "Doing nothing to him is like failing at his job. Let him have his fun."

Tara just nodded. She felt pretty much the same right now. She wanted something to come up and fast.

...

Jack nodded at Agent Brown as he left Sue's hospital room. Sue had urged him to get back to work, that she'd be fine there. He felt bad leaving her, but he also knew he had to end this nightmare before anyone else got hurt.

"Where are you at?" Jack asked Booth over the phone.

"I'm at the Jeffersonian. We're just going over stuff," Booth answered.

"I'll be right there."

...

Angela hung up with Michael Vincent when she saw a man enter fitting the description of Jack Hudson. He was looking around as she approached him.

"Jack?" she asked.

"Yea?" he replied, turning to look at her.

"You're looking for Booth?"

"Yea."

"This way," she said, heading towards Brennan's office. Jack followed her, still looking around. How lucky was Booth to be partnered with this place? They entered an office where Booth and Brennan were sitting and talking.

"Hey," Booth said, noticing him.

"Anything?" Jack asked, sitting down beside Booth. Angela hovered, listening.

"We don't think it's Broadsky," Booth told him.

"No? What changed your mind?"

"He doesn't use a laser on his gun. Why give his targets a head's up? No, this is someone making it look like him, but they messed up," Booth finished.

"Ranjit," Jack nodded.

"It's looking that way. So he only uses ex cons to do everything else, but he does the final shot."

"Except he missed," Jack pointed out.

"He's out there still planning, and we have to find him," Booth sighed.

"Tara is still trying to find the guy from the Mustang," Jack said. "We don't even know if that guy is Ranjit or if it's someone else entirely."

"I really dislike when a case stalls," Brennan chimed in. Angela nodded.

"Something will give," Booth said. "It always does."

Jack's phone rang then, and he saw it was Tara.

"Hey, Tara. Tell me you found the guy."

"Jack, I found Ranjit," Tara said breathlessly. "We've already picked him up. He's here in interrogation."

Jack leaped to his feet.

"I'm on my way," he told her, hanging up.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Ranjit is at the FBI office," Jack answered, rushing for the door. Booth bolted from his seat and raced after Jack. Just like he'd predicted, something always gave.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey all. I did post chapter 8 late Sunday evening/Monday morning. I just wanted to let you know in case you missed it since I was updating so quickly. If you haven't read it yet, you better read it now :)**

* * *

Jack sat while Booth paced the interrogation room. Ranjit sat there looking at them. Jack had a sinking feeling in his gut as he looked at Ranjit. The man looked legitimately terrified of both of them. If this was the guy who had been terrorizing them all day, then he was either an excellent actor or he truly wasn't the same guy.

"Come on, Ranjit," Booth said angrily. "We know it was you. You hired a guy to follow Jack's daughter, a guy to kidnap my son, two guys to breach our teenagers' high school, and a guy to run a sniper rifle in case they got out. Tell us where that sniper is right now. Is it Broadsky? Or was it you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ranjit spluttered. "I don't!"

"You're a sniper, Ranjit. You're after revenge."

"For what?!"

"For us killing your brother back in 2000!" Booth shouted. "You've been targeting the members of our teams and killing off their siblings or their children!"

"No!" Ranjit shouted back. "No, no, no!"

"Ranjit," Jack said quietly. "All signs point to you."

Ranjit stared at him.

"You're wrong," he whispered. "I didn't know it was you who killed my brother until just now."

"You threatened both of us that day," Booth went on. "You told me you would meet me again, and you told Jack you'd never forget this."

Jack hadn't realized Booth had heard Ranjit yell that to him.

"I was 17! I was angry! My brother had just been killed!" Ranjit cried. "I had idolized my brother, but once I found out what he was into...my feelings about him changed. I had no idea he was doing terrorist acts. It's why I joined my country's military, to try to make things right. I'm not a terrorist. I...I realize why you killed my brother. I forgave you both years ago."

"Why are you here, Ranjit? In America?" Jack asked.

"I was offered a training course," Ranjit answered.

"On what?"

"For improving hand to hand combat."

"Who offered it to you?"

"It went through my military," Ranjit answered. "They selected me and two of my fellow teammates to come."

Booth stared at the man, and his gut was telling him that Ranjit was telling the truth.

"Jack? A word?" he said, heading for the door. Jack followed.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking," Jack noted when they were in the hallway.

"He isn't behind this," Booth nodded.

"We gotta find out who sent this training opportunity to his military," Jack said. "I think Ranjit is being set up, just like Broadsky, but the only difference is Broadsky is dead. Maybe this person didn't know that?"

"This guy is throwing all these people at us," Booth said. "Why? What for?"

"To keep the light off of him as long as possible," Jack said, thinking. "What are we missing, Booth?"

"I don't know," Booth shook his head. He thought hard. Jack did too, and he suddenly had something hit him.

"I'll be back," Jack said, heading towards the exit. He had a thought. He needed to follow it.

"Keep me in the loop!" Booth called after him. Jack didn't reply as he ran.

...

"It's not Ranjit?" Brennan repeated. She was on the phone with Booth.

"No. Someone is setting him up too."

"I've never felt more frustrated," Brennan said.

"I know. Me too. Jack has a hunch about something. I'm waiting for him to call me."

"The kids want to go home," Brennan said, looking up at the lounge where they were playing cards with each other. It was getting later at night, and she knew they were tired.

"Get them comfy in there. No one is going anywhere while this guy is still loose," Booth said.

"Please find him soon," Brennan begged.

"I'm working on it, Bones. I'm working on it."

...

"Your hubby is quite the hunk," Caroline said to Sue. They were sitting and eating the dinner they'd been brought. Lucy had come to visit and had already left. She wanted to keep working on the case until it was solved.

"Oh, thank you," Sue said, blushing.

"So, you're deaf?" Caroline asked.

"Yes."

"But you know what I'm saying?"

"I read lips."

"Ohhh. I've never met anyone who could do that."

"My mother made sure I could function in the world," Sue smiled. "She spent hours with me."

"Well done, Mom," Caroline laughed. They were quiet for a while longer. Sue saw Agent Brown standing out in the hallway, alert. She liked him. He was a smart guy who did a lot for the FBI. She was glad they'd brought him in to guard them.

...

Jess was asleep on the couch in the FBI office. Myles was back from interrogating and feeling even more frustrated that there were no new leads. Booth had come in to brief them on Ranjit and what was happening there. Now, they were all waiting for Jack. James sat and petted Sam while watching everyone talking.

"I didn't get the chance to tell you how brave you were today," Bobby said to James as he came to sit beside him. "In the school."

"I just remembered everything you guys taught me," James shrugged.

"You'll make an expert agent one day," Bobby said, eyes twinkling.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

James smiled and blushed a little. He didn't do so well with compliments, but he appreciated them all the same. Bobby clapped his shoulder before going back to Tara. He hoped they would find the guy soon. He wanted to sleep in his own bed tonight.

...

Jack ransacked his closet until he found what he was looking for. He was rapidly remembering something, something he had buried deep down and tried to forget because it had been so tragic, but he needed to bring it back to the surface. He eventually found what he was looking for, a photo of his team and Booth's team taken right after their return from their last mission. He scanned all the faces until he found the one he was remembering. His heart sank. It was all suddenly coming back to him in a flash, everything he had worked so hard to forget. The pain hit him in the chest hard.

A gun clicked behind him, and he froze.

...

Tara was almost falling asleep with her hand in her face when her computer started to beep. She jolted forward, her elbow slipping off the desk and making her catch her face before it hit the wood.

She blinked as she stared at her computer.

"Bobby!" she shouted. He rushed over.

"What is it?"

"The guy in the hoodie...from the Mustang," she said, pointing. "I...I found him."

"Where is he?" Bobby demanded.

"He's at Jack's house," Tara answered in disbelief. Bobby sprang into action.

"D! Myles! Come on!" he shouted. They jumped from their desks bleary eyed from trying to stay awake.

"What's going on?" Myles demanded as he quickly got alert.

"Jack's in trouble," Bobby answered.

...

Brennan was sleeping in Booth's arms on the couch in her office while Hank and Christine slept in sleeping bags Angela had brought from home. She felt bad they had to all sleep there, so she had brought Michael Vincent to stay too, and she and Hodgins were making do in her office on the floor. Cam was in the lounge. Booth had come after a while to sit with them while he waited on Jack to call.

When Booth's phone rang, he grabbed it instantly. Brennan was immediately awake.

"Booth."

Brennan watched his face as it went from sleepy to serious to concerned.

"I'm on my way," he promised.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Our missing guy from the Mustang is at Jack's house," Booth said. Brennan got up off of him quickly as he got to his feet.

"Hurry!" she urged.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Booth said, rushing out the door. He hoped they weren't too late.

...

"I knew you'd figure it out," the man said to Jack, who still hadn't turned around yet.

"It was an accident..." Jack started. It had all come back to him now. It was like a movie in his mind, playing over and over.

"That happened on your guys' watch!" the man shouted.

"So killing our siblings and children is the best way to get your revenge?" Jack asked angrily.

"It's a start," he answered. "But since I failed to get your son, you'll have to do."

Jack had been inching his way closer to the gunman slowly as they talked. Now, he lunged at the man's legs, knocking him over. They wrestled on the ground. Jack managed to knock the gun out of the man's hand. He was thrown backwards suddenly, and he gasped at the sharp pain from hitting the corner of the wall. He struggled to his feet and met his attacker halfway, and they exchanged blows. He heard sirens outside, and he knew that his team had somehow figured out what was going on. Jack went to take down the man, but he was sucker punched and then thrown again. He landed and skidded across the floor close to the man's gun. He grabbed it, aiming it at the man, but he was already gone.

"Jack!" Bobby shouted, bursting the door open. D and Myles were behind him. Booth came shortly after. They found Jack lying on the floor, panting.

"Where is he?" Booth demanded.

"He got away," Jack answered, lowering the gun. "But I got his gun."

"Who is he, Jack?" Booth asked. "Who is it?"

Jack looked at them all, and he couldn't believe he hadn't even thought there was a connection to what had happened after their mission to what was happening now. At the time, it had been tragic, but the more life happened and the more things he did, it had become a shadow in his memory, and he had let it because he hadn't wanted to relive it every day of his life. He had intentionally buried it.

Everyone was staring at him as he breathed hard.

"Chase Hunter," Jack said. "It was Chase Hunter."

He looked at Booth, whose face had completely gone white.

* * *

**Don't worry, you're gonna find out who Chase Hunter is in the next chapter ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**2000**

"I'm so glad this is over," Jill said as she cleaned her rifle. Jack chuckled.

"Me too."

"When we get back to base, I'm gonna sleep for an entire day," she went on. "But first, I'm gonna take a hot shower."

There was sudden laughter across the way from Team Two. Jack didn't know many of the men from that team. They had only been sent along as back up, which had kind of annoyed Jack. Had he not proven he was a good sniper? He had done some work with SWAT before joining the military for a few tours. They had recruited him because of how good of a shot he was. He had Jacob Broadsky to thank, really. The man was a legend, and he trained a few other snipers too. Jack counted himself lucky that he was given the chance to learn from the best.

"You excited to go home?" Jill asked, breaking into his thoughts.

"Oh yea," Jack nodded. He finished off his meal, looking forward to when he could have a slice of pizza again. "You?"

"Definitely. My parents can stop biting their nails," Jill laughed. "Well, not entirely I guess. My brother is still doing a tour."

"You guys joined together?" Jack asked, surprised.

"It was my idea to join since I am the oldest," Jill said. "Chase just tagged along because whatever I did, he had to do."

"I see."

"He's a sniper like you. I think Jacob Broadsky even trained him too."

"Wow, he got lucky to learn from the best." Jack had a vague recollection now of a man named Chase starting with Jacob after Jack had left.

"He knows it," Jill chuckled. "He brags about it."

"I bet," Jack smiled.

"My daughter is gonna be ecstatic to see me," Jill sighed happily. "I miss her a lot."

"I didn't realize," Jack said.

"It was something that happened when I was quite young. My parents helped me raise her."

"The father?" Jack asked, curious.

"Not in the picture. It's for the best," Jill added quickly upon seeing Jack's face.

"Well, here's to family and getting home safe," Jack said, raising his water jug. She followed suit, and they laughed as they drank.

...

Back at the base two days later, Jack was getting ready to board the plane with his teammates to go home when there was shouting.

"What's going on?" Jack asked. No one knew, so they rushed to the commotion.

"Easy, easy," Jill was saying as one of their own was swinging around a pistol and looking wild.

"You're all in on this!" he was shouting.

"No, Phil, we're not. Sweetie, I think you're having a break down," Jill said to him. Her arm was outstretched to him. "Put down the gun, Phil, and let me help you. Please."

"You'll just torture me!" Phil was shouting. Jack recognized someone who had finally broke from combat and PTSD. He knew Phil had experienced some horrific things. He'd been taken off of duty a bit ago and was being sent home. Jack's team stood at the ready, waiting for the right time to tackle him. They knew if they spooked him, he'd unleash and hurt someone. The frustrating part was their weapons were stored safely on the plane. No one was currently armed. The people who were armed were standing at the ready, but they didn't want to spook Phil either.

"No, I promise we will help you," Jill soothed. "I will help you, Phil. I'm your friend. Okay? I'm your friend, Phil."

Jack opened his mouth to warn her as she took a step towards Phil, who took her approach as a threat.

"LIARS!" Phil screamed, unloading his pistol. Jack felt the horror as Jill was struck repeatedly and fell in what seemed like slow motion. Phil was immediately shot in the shoulder by someone and then tackled by six of Jack's teammates, his now empty gun sent flying. Jack raced to Jill and landed on his knees beside her.

"Jill!" he shouted. He turned her over, but she was staring blankly, already gone. Jack felt his throat tighten. How could this have happened? He looked up to see Team Two staring at him in horror as Jack's team wrestled Phil to a sitting position, his arms held tightly behind him until someone came rushing to secure him. The shock and disbelief over the incident was in everyone. Phil was still shouting about liars. He was eventually taken away.

Jack was lifted off of Jill, and everything else turned into a big blur.

...

Jack stood as the soldiers fired off their guns at Jill's funeral. He'd always remember Sergeant Jillian Hunter for her bravery. When the service was over, he made to leave when he was accosted.

"You guys failed my sister," Chase said angrily.

"Chase, no," Jack started.

"You knew Phil was ready to crack! You should have stopped him!"

"Chase, it was an accident. A terrible, tragic accident..."

"That you could have stopped," Chase finished for him.

"Phil had a mental breakdown. He never would have shot her if he was in his right mind..."

"You all knew it..."

"No, Chase, we had no idea Phil had gotten that bad after being taken off of duty," Jack cut him off. "Believe me, if we'd known, this would not have happened."

"An accident is unintentional," Chase went on. "Phil intentionally shot her!"

Jack didn't know how to explain it to Chase any other way that when you've had a mental breakdown the way Phil did, you don't know what you're doing. He knew Chase wouldn't accept it anyway.

"I'm sorry, Chase. I really am," he said.

"It's all your guys' fault," Chase said furiously. "You're a team. You look out for each other. You failed my sister."

"Hey, hey," a soldier said, coming into view. Jack briefly recognized him as Seeley Booth. "What's going on here?"

"You all let my sister down," Chase said, pointing at Booth. "I heard your team didn't even do a damn thing!"

"Chase, stop," Jack ordered.

"This isn't over," Chase said angrily. He looked at Booth and back at Jack. "We will meet again."

He left the two of them in an agitated state. Booth didn't say a word as he turned to leave. Jack watched Chase go hug his mother, who was sobbing. Jack felt terrible about what had happened, but he disagreed that it was his or the team's fault. No one could have predicted that Phil was going to lose his mind. No one.

Jack went home, and he did his best to put his military life behind him as well as bury all the painful memories because that was the only way he knew to move on.

**Present **

"Chase Hunter," Booth repeated.

"Who is that?" Bobby asked.

"The brother of one of our teammates," Jack answered. "Jillian Hunter. She was tragically killed when one of our teammates had a mental break down and accused us all of being liars and in on a conspiracy. She was trying to help calm him down, and he shot and killed her."

"Chase believes our teams let her down," Booth finished for Jack. "So now he's getting his revenge." He hadn't entirely forgotten about that incident, but he had never dreamed Chase would do something like this. Then again, the guy had been very angry.

"Wow," Myles said, shaking his head. "I just...wow."

"He's not done, Booth," Jack said. "We gotta find him."

Booth was already on his phone, as was Bobby. Jack was still shaking a little from his attack. Chase Hunter was a fellow, experienced sniper. He had no doubt that he shot Sue. He'd learned from Broadsky, so he imitated him. They had to find him and find him fast.

...

Tara looked up when a woman in her thirties came into the bullpen wearing a visitor's badge. She was blonde and blue eyed and about average height and weight.

"Can I help you?" Tara asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "My name is Stephanie Hunter. I think my uncle is going to hurt someone."

"Who's your uncle?" Tara questioned.

"Chase Hunter," Stephanie said, her voice wobbling. "He...he left me a weird message, and I'm really worried about him."

"What did the message say?" Lucy asked, coming to join them.

"He was going on about his sister, my mother, and how her team failed her, and he said he was going to finally finish what he started," Stephanie explained, getting teary. "I have it if you want to listen to it."

Tara took the phone from her and began to play the message. It indeed stated Chase was going to be doing something bad. Tara shared a look with Lucy.

"Do you know where he is?" Tara asked Stephanie.

"No," she shook her head. "But he drives a black Mustang." She rhymed off the license plate for Tara, but she already knew that car had blown up earlier that day.

"I'm going to call Jack," Lucy said, going to her desk. Tara looked at Stephanie, who was wringing her hands together.

"We'll find him," she promised.

"I really hope so," Stephanie said. "I don't want him to hurt anyone. Mom wouldn't want him to do this either. I know he's been struggling for ages...this'll be my fault for not getting him help sooner."

"You can't blame yourself," Tara said gently.

"I know, but I do," Stephanie argued. "I'm a therapist. I know the signs."

"People only help themselves when they want to get help," Tara said.

"I know that. He's still my uncle, though. We always think we should be able to help our family and loved ones no matter what."

"We'll find him," Tara said again. "And then he can get the help he needs."

"Thank you," Stephanie replied appreciatively. "Thank you."

...

"Thanks, Lucy," Jack said, hanging up. He was in the SUV with Bobby, D, and Myles. Booth was following behind in his.

"What's up?" Bobby asked.

"Stephanie Hunter was at the FBI office," Jack answered.

"Whoa, what?!" Bobby exclaimed.

"She said her uncle Chase is going to hurt someone, that he left her a weird message about finishing what he started."

"You and Booth are the last two of the teams left that he hasn't successfully gotten his revenge on," Bobby nodded.

"At least we got his cell number now," Jack said. Lucy told him Stephanie gave it to them. "We can find him through that."

D pulled up his laptop and began the trace.

"I asked Tara to scan footage of that warehouse again to see if anyone else came out of there," Jack went on. "She said another male exited a different door than Chase did, which is how she missed it to begin with. That was his driver and the one who was watching outside the school when Chase shot Sue."

"Probably another hired ex con," Myles commented. "The getaway driver. He's still a loose end, though. Is he gonna still be helping Chase?"

"Guys, guys," D said anxiously. "He's right outside the Jeffersonian."

Jack immediately dialed Booth as Bobby hit the brakes and did a 180 turn on the street.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Booth asked on speaker phone after Jack connected with him.

"Chase is outside the Jeffersonian," Jack started.

Booth's SUV squealed and turned immediately to follow them.

"Let's go get this son of a bitch," he said. "But first, I gotta warn my wife."

...

Brennan answered her phone to find a panicked Booth on the other end.

"Get everyone away from the windows right now," he ordered.

"Booth? What's happening?" she asked.

"Just do it. Now!" he shouted, hanging up. Brennan felt afraid, but she did as instructed. She gathered everyone who wasn't already with her into her office, and they all stayed low. The kids were waking up now, sensing something was wrong.

"Mom?" Christine asked.

"Just stay in here," Brennan answered. "Your father is coming."

Hank grabbed Christine's hand then and squeezed it tightly. He didn't want to admit that he was afraid, but he was most definitely afraid.

...

Jack, Booth, and the others stopped in the street before the Jeffersonian. They got out, scanning for sniper points and making a plan.

"You think he's gonna snipe?" Jack asked Booth.

"I don't know. He's crazy to think he can just walk in there armed," Booth answered.

"He knows we will come there," Jack said. "He's luring us."

"Not if I find him first," Booth retorted.

Jack had Tara back on his phone, and she was telling him where Chase was located based on his phone.

"You're almost on top of him," she said. "Go left."

They followed her orders, finding a rather abandoned looking building. Jack was about to speak when shots rang out.

Bobby shouted out as he fell backwards. D, Myles, and Booth fired off shots into the darkness as Jack grabbed Bobby's collar and dragged him to cover.

"You all right?" Jack asked, panting.

"Yea, yea. He got the vest," Bobby answered, groaning. "Where is he?"

More shots came their way, and they all ducked.

"Tara! Lights!" Jack shouted into his phone. It would be better than working with night vision in his opinion.

"I'm hacking in," she answered. It got suddenly bright inside, blinding them all momentarily as they yanked off their night vision.

"I got him!" Myles shouted. He started to rush Chase where he was hiding. Chase bolted for the stairs.

"D! Stay with Bobby!" Jack ordered, tearing after Chase. Myles and Booth were also running after him. It was time to end this.

...

James was coming out of the bathroom when he was grabbed. He fought hard, but he was jabbed with something sharp instantly, and he felt himself falling, unconscious.

Then it was black.

...

Sue was watching Agent Brown listening to his ear piece. She wondered what was making him frown.

"Simon?" she called. He turned and looked at her.

"Yea? You okay?"

"What's going on?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he answered.

"I know you're lying, Simon," she said sternly. "Tell me."

"Jack is in pursuit of the guy behind all this, Chase Hunter," Simon explained. "Bobby's down, but he's okay."

Sue felt very worried. She hoped Jack would be safe. She hoped this would all be over really soon.

...

Booth, Jack, and Myles were creeping along the top floor of the office building. Chase had disappeared into this room, and they were hell bent on finding him. Jack noticed movement, and he signaled to the other two, who nodded.

"Argh!" Booth shouted out as Chase landed on top of him. They fell to the floor, Booth's gun skidding away. Booth managed to get Chase off of him, and Myles instantly had his gun aimed at Chase's face while Jack stood over him.

"That was very stupid of you," he commented. Chase started to laugh.

"You think I'm in this alone?" he asked. "My good work is being finished as we speak. I always have a plan B, Jack."

"You were the distraction," Booth said, realizing. He looked at Jack, who yanked out his phone.

"The getaway driver," Myles commented, clenching his fist. He knew that guy was still in the game.

"Tara?" he asked anxiously. "Where are James and Jess?"

"Jess is here, but James is in the bathroom," Tara answered.

"Go get him. Now," Jack ordered.

"Hank and Christine are fine," Booth said, looking at his phone from texting Brennan.

"I'm the real target here, aren't I?" Jack said to Chase. "You don't care about his kids so much as you do mine. That was just another throw off right from the beginning, asking to speak to him rather than me, wasn't it?"

"She was on your team," Chase said. "Therefore, you're the one most responsible."

"Then why kill the others?" Booth asked angrily.

"Because they stood around and watched it happen," Chase replied. "But you, Jack, you were the leader. I was more disappointed and angry at you than anyone else. She talked about you nonstop. You were her best friend. Friends don't let other friends die."

"Can I shoot him now?" Myles asked.

Booth bent to handcuff Chase and haul him to his feet.

"You set up Ranjit by bringing him over here for something work related," Jack said. "And you set up Broadsky, but what you didn't realize was that Broadsky is dead."

Chase didn't respond, but the surprise at Broadsky being dead showed in his eyes.

"Jack?" Tara's voice said in his hear. He jumped, having forgotten he was on the phone with her.

"Yea?"

"James is gone."

* * *

**So close to the end, guys! Thank you for reading! As always, I look forward to hearing your feedback :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Jack thought he was going to die. He looked at Chase kneeling on the ground in front of him, handcuffed, and felt immense anger. He went over and solidly punched the man right in the kisser, making him fall over. Chase started to laugh.

"Who has my son?" Jack demanded.

"I'll never tell you that," Chase answered. Jack lifted him up by the throat and squeezed it tightly.

"Jack," Bobby warned.

"You hurt my son, and you'll never breathe again," Jack promised.

Chase just smirked at him. Jack wanted to just shoot him, but Bobby pulled his hands off of Chase's neck and pulled him back.

"Okay," he said. "Think, Jack. Stephanie Hunter went to the FBI office, right?"

"Yea. She gave us the information on Chase."

"Sure she did. She also got front row access to James," Bobby said.

"No," Jack said, realizing what Bobby was implying. "Not Jill's daughter."

"If she's been listening to this crackpot for the last 20 plus years going on about how you were to blame for her mother's death, then she might want revenge just as much," Bobby reasoned. The more Jack thought about it, the more he realized his friend was probably right, and that almost broke his heart.

"Tara?" Jack asked.

"I'm still here."

"Is Stephanie still there?"

"No," Tara answered. "Come to think of it, she left when James went to the...Oh no. You don't think...?"

"Yea, I do think," Jack confirmed, as much as it pained him to think it. Looking at the triumphant expression on Chase's face was making it more of a fact. Who would ever suspect the tearful niece trying to help her uncle?

"Jack, I'm so sorry."

"It's all right. She played victim. You didn't know. Find her," Jack said. "She's got James."

...

Tara looked up when the director of the FBI walked in.

"Can someone explain to me why four people being held in interrogation are all dead?" he demanded.

"Wha-? No," Tara answered. "They're dead?"

"All of them. The agents on guard were knocked out, and all four suspects were injected with poison."

"Stephanie must have killed them with it," Lucy said logically. "But...why? They didn't know who she was. Or Chase."

"Tying up loose ends anyway," Tara replied as she typed furiously on her computer. "I got her." She pulled up the cameras from the building, looking at footage from half an hour ago. Stephanie was seen with a man hauling James out and putting him into their car.

"She had help," Lucy noted. "Who is he?"

"Already running facial rec," Tara said, clicking away. "Got him. Jeff Higgs. I'm sending their photos to the guys."

"Is James going to be okay?" Jess asked, staring at both of them. She was frightened for her brother.

"We're going to find him," Lucy promised. She went to hug Jess, trying to make herself feel just as reassured that this was all going to end okay.

...

"Hey, hey, hey," Myles said, looking at the photos Tara had sent them all as they drove.

"What?" Jack asked.

"Stephanie and Jeff...I saw them earlier today."

"Where?"

"At the coffee shop when I was looking for Jess," Myles answered, looking up. "She was the cashier, and Jeff was mopping the damn floor. I thought Lucy said Stephanie was a therapist?"

"Someone obviously lied," Bobby commented. Jack was looking down at his GPS. He had planted a tracker on both Jess and James inconspicuously earlier, and he was grateful he had done that now.

"Turn right," he instructed. Bobby obliged. Booth was riding with them. He had done a quick check in with Brennan at the Jeffersonian to let her know what was going on and that they were now safe. Other agents had met them and picked up Chase.

"You know, once you said his name, it all came rushing back," Booth said. Jack turned to look at him. "I remember feeling so helpless that day. I also remember your guys were at the ready to take him down."

"Jill spooked him," Jack nodded. "I knew it as soon as she took that step towards him. If she hadn't...she might still be alive today."

"It wasn't your fault, Jack," Booth said.

"I know, but it feels that way sometimes," Jack replied, turning back to face the front. His GPS beeped. "Okay, Bobby, stop here."

They slowed and stopped, and they all looked out their windows.

"Dockyard," Bobby noted. "Interesting choice."

"Everyone be careful," Jack said. "She might think she's gotten away with this."

"Is she that stupid?" Myles asked, incredulous.

"Let's hope so," Jack answered. They all got out carefully and quietly. It was time to save James.

...

Christine was looking at the last photo she and James had taken together the day before. She knew he was in danger from listening to her mother talk to her father, and she felt terrified for him. Hank had managed to fall back asleep after everything, but she couldn't.

"You okay?" Brennan asked, joining her daughter in the lounge. Cam was down with Angela and Hodgins, talking about the case. They had brought in the four bodies from the FBI interrogation rooms, and Brennan had felt bad knowing that they all had gotten involved in something way over their heads. The saddest one was Ranjit. He had just come because he thought it was for his career. He had no idea that he was being framed and then going to be murdered.

"No, I'm not," Christine answered. "What if James dies, Mom?"

Brennan knew the feeling of terror of thinking you were never going to see your loved one again. She swallowed.

"I'm not sure what to say to that," she admitted. "But what I can say is that your father is very good at what he does, as you well know, and Jack and the others seem to be very good at their jobs too. I think they will find James, and he will be okay, but I can't promise that."

"I know. I just...I wish none of this had happened," Christine said tearfully.

"Me too," Brennan agreed. Her mind kept thinking back to their original plan of retiring, but it never seemed to stick. Maybe they should revisit it once this was all over.

She put her arm around her daughter and held her close.

...

Chase Hunter did not do jail time. That was not on his to-do list. He waited for the right moment before he freed himself from his cuffs with a hidden pin and grabbed the gun off of one of the agents guarding him. He aimed it at the others and went to shoot, and he was immediately gunned down. As Chase died, he thought about his sister and wondered if she knew what he'd done for her. He had no regrets. His last breath faded away, but he died with a smile on his face.

...

Jack signaled to the others to stop. They were just about on top of James's GPS signal. He gestured for the team to split up, which they did so accordingly. Jack stepped forward then, and he saw Stephanie standing there with James, holding a gun to his son's head.

"Took you long enough," she commented.

"Stephanie, it doesn't have to end this way," Jack said.

"End what way? Me getting my final revenge?"

"Your uncle...he had it wrong, Stephanie."

"No, he didn't. You guys failed my mom, and I believe that."

"You weren't there..."

"But YOU were!" she shouted. James was looking anxious, but Jack gave him a look that said "stand still." He obeyed.

"You're right. I was there," Jack agreed. He took a step closer.

"Stop!" she yelled. "Don't come any closer."

"So this is to show me what it feels to be helpless?" Jack asked. "Is that what this is?"

"It's to show that you are standing right there and didn't do a damn thing," Stephanie said back. "Let's see how your wife and daughter feel about that, huh?"

"Well, here's the difference between back then and right now," Jack said.

"What?" she snapped.

"I came in knowing that you were a threat," Jack answered. "You did not get the jump on me."

"Hello," Bobby said, coming up behind her, his gun aimed at her. Myles, D, and Booth came out of the shadows around her too, guns aimed.

"My team is prepared this time," Jack told her. "Also, last time was an accident. Phil did not mean to kill your mother, Stephanie, he was not himself." Jack did not add that Phil had killed himself not long after once he had realized what he had done and because he couldn't handle the pain from his trauma and past torture anymore.

"Justifying it doesn't change anything!" Stephanie shouted angrily.

"Put the gun down, Stephanie," Jack instructed. "Please. Your mother wouldn't want you to do this."

Stephanie was wrestling with what to do, Jack could tell. In the end, she made the decision to move to shoot James, who ducked at Jack's hand sign, and four people unloaded their guns on her. She fell and hit the ground hard, dead. James stood up and stepped aside instantly. He was shaking hard. Jack went to him and hugged him tightly. He hoped that this would be the last time his son was ever threatened.

"Is it over?" James asked. "Dad, please say it's over."

"Jeff!" Myles shouted, seeing the other man pop up. Jeff took off, and Myles, D, and Booth ran after him. It wasn't long before they heard Jeff yelling out as he got tackled.

"Why did she do it, Dad?" James asked, looking down at Stephanie. Jack felt his heart break. Jill would have been so devastated to see this.

"She and her uncle firmly believed I was the reason her mother died," Jack explained. "It's a long story, bud, but I will tell it to you one day."

"Okay," James nodded.

"Let's get out of here," Jack said, putting his arm around James and heading back to the SUV as more police and FBI showed up, lights flashing.

...

"Dad," Christine said, rushing to hug Booth as he returned. Brennan looked at him hopefully.

"It's over," he said. "We got her."

"Her?" Brennan asked, surprised.

"Well, him and her. An uncle and his niece. It's a long story," Booth said.

"I'm sure you'll tell it to me one day," Brennan nodded.

"Yea. I will," Booth agreed. He went over to hug and kiss her.

"Can we go home now?" Hank asked wearily. He had woken up from his sleep to the commotion.

"Yea. Let's go home," Booth nodded. "But first, Christine, you're coming with me."

...

Sue looked up when Jack came into the room. She noticed Simon had left.

"Oh, give us some good news, please," Caroline asked.

"We got them," Jack answered.

"Who was it?" Sue asked.

"Back in 2000, a member of my team was tragically killed just before we came home from duty. Her brother blamed me and my team as well as Booth and his team for letting it happen. He used Ranjit to throw us off and make us think it was him coming after us because that was our last mission together. He used ex cons to do the leg work for him, and he used the idea of Broadsky to throw Booth on a wild chase. He almost pulled it off, but we got him. I heard he died in custody."

"How?" Sue asked.

"Suicide by an agent," Jack answered. "He wasn't doing jail time."

"Was it just him? You said them," Sue pointed out.

"His niece, the daughter of my teammate, believed what he said, and she was helping him."

"How did Chase shoot me and get away in the Mustang?" Sue asked, curious.

"He had hired a driver. That driver was found dead in his apartment. Stephanie, the daughter, had killed him. She also killed the others in the FBI office, footage proved that. I...I feel really bad because Ranjit was honestly trying to make it right with the world for what his brother had done. He didn't deserve to die. None of them did," Jack added. "Not like that."

"You know for sure that it wasn't Broadsky who shot Sue?" Caroline asked.

"Yea. We found the sniper rifle in his apartment. It had his prints all over it, had been fired recently, and the bullets there matched the one we pulled from Sue," Jack confirmed. "Broadsky is really dead. He had trained Chase, so Chase knew how to make that shot."

"What a relief," Caroline sighed.

"The kids?" Sue asked.

"I'm sending them to stay with Lucy for the night," Jack answered. "Our house is kind of a crime scene for the moment."

"What?!"

"Chase surprised me there. He threw me around a bit. It'll be clear to go back in the morning," Jack promised, dismissing it. Sue gave him a look. He sat down beside her and took her hand in his.

"Anymore surprises from the past I should know about?" Sue asked him.

"I think that's all, but with this job, it's the risk we take, right?"

"Right," she nodded. He smiled and squeezed her hand.

"It's all over," he promised. "We're safe now."

She knew this was true.

...

Lucy was getting ready to leave the FBI office with Jess and James when she heard a voice calling down the hallway.

"James!"

She and Jess looked to see a young woman running towards them. Booth was standing back and watching, arms crossed, but he was smiling.

"Hey," Jess nudged her brother. "Your girlfriend is here."

James saw Christine, and he ran towards her. They met in the middle of the hallway, and he spun her around as they laughed and cried.

"Yuck," Jess commented.

"Oh, you'll get there one day," Lucy chuckled. She saw Booth still watching.

"I just realized I called your name," Christine said to James. "That was stupid of me."

"It's fine. Jess told me you were there," he answered.

"I'd kiss you, but I think my Dad's head would explode," she whispered.

"I agree," he nodded.

"All right," Booth said then. "It's two in the morning. I want to go to bed, and I know you all need your sleep too. Come on. We can visit again soon."

"I just had to make sure you were okay," Christine said to James, still holding his hand.

"I'm fine," James promised. "You better go before you get in trouble."

"He is the one who brought me here," she reasoned.

"I can hear you," Booth commented.

"I'll see you soon," Christine promised, kissing James's cheek quickly. She ran off towards Booth then.

"I'm never dating," Jess said as she and Lucy caught up with James, and they started walking behind Booth and Christine out the building.

"That's fine by me," James teased. "I won't have to beat off the boys then."

"I can take care of myself," Jess replied, indignant.

"I know," he agreed, ruffling her hair.

"James!"

Lucy resisted laughing. How those two were going to sleep so hopped up on adrenaline, she had no idea.

...

"Good job, mates," Bobby said as he, Myles, and Tara were packing up to leave. Dimitrius had already left.

"If I had just realized Stephanie was lying..." Tara lamented.

"Tara, what matters is we figured it out and got James back safely. You can't beat yourself up over it," Bobby said to her.

Tara didn't say anything else, but she still felt bad. Bobby put his arm around her and gave her a slight shake as they walked out together. Myles was behind them.

"Here's hoping this never happens again," Myles commented.

"Hear, hear," Bobby agreed. They walked out chatting and laughing, trying their best to forget what could have gone wrong. Sometimes, that was the only way to survive this business.

* * *

**Stay tuned for the epilogue (yes, there's gonna be more Christine and James)! Thank you for reading, and I can't wait to hear your feedback :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ah, the last chapter! I always feel so bittersweet when I end a story. Happy reading, guys!**

* * *

**Epilogue**

**A Few Weeks Later **

"You promised," Christine said when the doorbell rang, a warning tone in her voice. Booth gave her his best, most innocent smile.

"Open the door," he gestured. She gave him one last look before doing so, finding James standing there and smiling back at her.

"Hey," he said. There was a golden lab standing next to him.

"Hey," Christine said brightly, hugging him. "Hi, Bailey!" She bent to pat the dog fondly. Jack and Sue had taken James to get a hearing dog right after Sue was released from the hospital. She didn't want anyone getting the jump on her son ever again.

"Hello, sir," James said, nodding at Booth.

"Hey, James," Booth smiled back. It was the first time James was invited to dinner at their house. Christine had allowed them to get to know her boyfriend. Of course, once Brennan had found out, she had insisted that the rest of James's family come as well.

"Booth," Jack said once James had come inside and disappeared with Christine.

"Jack, my man," Booth replied, giving him a sideways, man hug. "And Sue."

"Hi," Sue smiled. Sam was behind her.

"And last, but the best, Jess," Booth grinned. Jess grinned back.

"Jess! Come see the new high score I got!" Hank exclaimed, having come up behind Booth just then. He hauled Jess away to his video game.

"Hello!" Brennan called, joining them. "It's good to see you."

"Thank you for having us," Sue said.

"Where's Christine?" Booth asked.

"She's in the living room. Relax," Brennan answered, patting his shoulder.

"You know, James is a good guy," Jack pointed out.

"No, I know. It's instinct. You'll know what I'm talking about when Jess starts dating," Booth assured him.

"Uh huh," Jack nodded, watching Jess and Hank together.

"Oh, you're not..." Booth said, noticing too. "No...you think?"

"Well, it's instinct to be concerned," Jack teased.

"Hank's a good guy..."

"Right. Then you know what I'm talking about," Jack commented.

"Oh boys," Sue said. "Stop it." She laughed with Brennan as they went to the kitchen.

...

"I think our families blend well," James said to Christine after watching their parents interact with each other.

"What is my Dad saying?" Christine asked.

"He said it's instinct to worry about me and that my Dad would understand when Jess started dating. Then my Dad looked at Hank and Jess and said yes but that it's instinct to worry."

"Ha! Good for your Dad," Christine laughed.

"You're really okay?" James asked. He still worried about the effects of what happened and how she was dealing with it. He himself was having nightmares and feeling anxiety at times. His mother had encouraged him to talk to a therapist, which he was doing.

"Trust me, it's not my first time in danger, and I'm sure it won't be the last," Christine said. She squeezed his hand. "I'm good. I promise."

"Okay," he smiled. She snuck in a kiss then.

"I saw that!" Booth called.

"Daaaaad," she groaned.

...

"Do you ever think about quitting?" Sue asked Brennan as she helped with dinner. Brennan looked contemplative then.

"Every day," she answered truthfully. "But then, if we don't do what we do, how many murders will go unsolved?"

"I feel the same way," Sue agreed.

"Are you doing okay after being shot?" Brennan asked.

"I'm doing as good as I can be. It could have been worse. How's Caroline?"

"Oh, she's good. She threatened to never babysit for us again, though. Too much of a risk to her health."

They watched their husbands talking and laughing.

"It's nice to see Booth have a guy friend again," Brennan commented. "After Aubrey left to be with Jessica a few years ago, he hasn't really had anyone."

"What about Hodgins?" Sue asked. She had briefly met Hodgins and Angela when they came to see Caroline at the hospital.

"They're sort of friends. Hodgins is more of a science guy, though, and Booth needs that G.I. Joe type of guy to hang out with," Brennan answered.

"Ah yes. That's how I would describe Jack at times," Sue laughed. "But he is mostly a big softie."

"I think this is going to be a good friendship," Brennan told her, smiling. Sue smiled back. She thought so too.

...

"So, live to fight another day," Jack commented. He and Booth were sitting in the back deck together.

"Hear, hear," Booth agreed.

"I wish I had reached out to Stephanie," Jack said after a moment. "Maybe this could have been prevented."

"You didn't know her uncle was going to warp her mind," Booth pointed out. Jack knew Booth was right, but he still felt guilty. He shouldn't have tried so hard to forget what happened and reached out. Maybe Stephanie would still be alive right now. Maybe his and Booth's teammates wouldn't have lost family from revenge, and maybe his and Booth's own children wouldn't have been threatened.

"You feel better knowing Broadsky is really dead?" Jack asked after a moment. He knew how big of a worry that had been to Booth when he thought the guy was alive and escaped from prison.

"Yea," Booth said, grimacing. "He was a piece of work."

"It's too bad he turned dark," Jack lamented.

"Well, it happens," Booth sighed. "As you well know."

"Yea, I do," Jack nodded. They sat in silence for a moment, thinking.

"Here's to us and the future," Booth said eventually. He and Jack tapped their beers together and laughed. Jack sat back in his chair and enjoyed the moment. It was nice to have a new friend. He could hear his family inside the house laughing and talking, and he knew that the future was definitely going to be good.

**The End **

* * *

**Thank you all who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed! I hope you enjoyed this story! I may or may not write about these two shows again in the future. If you liked this story and haven't already read The Gamblers in the FBI, then I hope you try it out. Until next time :)**


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